


An Absolutely, Totally, Non-Romantic Wedding Date

by TheUnrealInsomniac



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationships, Best Friends Not Aware They're A Couple, Cunnilingus, F/M, Foreplay, Love Confessions, Morning Sex, Oral Sex, Resolved Romantic Tension, Resolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Vaginal Sex, Wet Dream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:48:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 90,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23484832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnrealInsomniac/pseuds/TheUnrealInsomniac
Summary: Naruto and Sakura have been best friends since school, they've been there for each other through it all. Bad break ups, job worries and now each other's plus one to Shikamaru and Temari's wedding. Though with pushy friends and nosy family almost as invested in their relationship as the bride and groom, they may have only added fuel to the fire. Modern!AU.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 186
Kudos: 219





	1. 'Just Friends'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, unfortunately.**

Naruto pulled at his tie, loosening it sloppily and with immense relish. He hated ties, he’d always hated ties and honestly it was the part of his job that he hated most.

The uniform he could deal with, he had the advantage of inheriting his dad’s ability of being able to make anything look good, especially a police uniform, but the tie man. The tie was a pain in the ass.

But if he wanted to be taken seriously as a cop, he had to wear the tie. At least when he appeared in court to testify.

Thankfully when he wasn’t in court he got to take off the uniform and the tie and wear plain clothes. Thank God for small mercies.

With the noose hanging around his neck finally loose enough to let him breathe again, Naruto shouldered open his front door and was immediately greeted to the sound of his former roommate in his kitchen.

‘Man.’ His friend dragged out the word like even speaking was too much effort for him. ‘What a pain, why did you never change this cooker Naruto? It’s so old.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with my cooker Shikamaru,’ Naruto said shortly. ‘You just don’t like having to do anything for yourself.’

‘Ehhh,’ the pineapple haired man said with a dismissive wave. ‘Waste of energy, I’m only going to be hungry again later.’

Naruto shook his head and launched his tie and hat at his old, comfy sofa. ‘I have no idea how Temari hasn’t killed you already. How did you convince her to marry you in the first place?’

‘I have no idea what you mean,’ Shikamaru said with his trademark bored frown. ‘Besides, at least I had the guts to ask her out. Can’t say that can you?’

Naruto pointedly ignored the snarky comment. He didn’t really have the energy to get into the inevitable argument he knew was coming. For the millionth time.

Instead he set to rustling around his kitchen in search of a takeout menu. He wasn’t in the mood to cook after a trying day in court, he really hoped that sick freak got put away for life, and he’d promised Temari he wouldn’t let her groom-to-be starve due to pure laziness the week before their wedding.

Though, if Shikamaru didn’t at least wash a dish or two, his friend might not make it to his wedding day. He guessed the two years between Shikamaru moving in with Temari and when Naruto had lived with him had erased the memory of just how shitty a roommate the lazy bastard could be.

He slid the old favourite takeout menu in front of Shikamaru, earning a smile of recognition from his friend. ‘Pick something and get my usual. It’s on you, consider it rent and payment for being a lazy asshole. I’m going to go change out of this stuff.’

Shikamaru flipped him off good-naturedly and peered down at the takeout menu with an apathetic stare. Which was about as close to excited the man seemed to get on a daily basis.

Naruto sighed in relief as he walked into his room, the door shutting behind him with a lazy flick of the sole of his foot.

He started undoing his shirt buttons with tired fingers and slipped off his uniform standard stab vest, hanging it up over his opened wardrobe door, then he slipped his shoulder holster off, his gun and handcuffs clanking against the wooden surface of his dresser as he lay it down next to his badge and other assorted police gear.

He shrugged off his shirt and balled it up and threw it at his hamper. Sinking the shot without touching the sides of the basket and grinned to himself.

He probably shouldn’t have enjoyed that as much as he did, he was twenty-seven not seventeen, but fuck it, it had been a seriously long day.

With the weight of his gear off him, Naruto felt the stress drop away with it and he smiled. There was something about getting out of the uniform that made him feel more like just Naruto and not Detective Uzumaki. Made him feel human again.

Speaking of feeling human again, his phone vibrated in his pants pocket and when he pulled out his phone some more stress slipped away. A little circle of Sakura’s picture appeared at the side of his phone home screen.

_How was court today? X_

He smiled at the text, the familiar warmth seeping through the phone to his chest.

_Eh, good as it could be. First time I’d seen the sicko’s face since I arrested him last month. I’ll be okay, how are you? X_

Her reply came back immediately.

_Poor you, I’m alright. Mostly just worried about you, I know how much that creep got under your skin. At least he’s behind bars now where he can’t hurt anyone else. You did good Naruto, now it’s up to the prosecutors. You sure you’re okay? X_

Naruto let his phone drop down on his bed, smiling to himself. Trust Sakura to remember he had court today, she was always so good at checking up on him when she knew he’d be stressed out.

The number of times he’d come home to find her waiting in his apartment with a home cooked meal and an understanding ear were far too many to count.

Something he’d known not to expect from Shikamaru when he came home. Prick probably hadn’t even noticed Naruto was in his uniform despite making detective last year.

He finished getting changed, his phone’s muffled vibrating catching his attention just when he was about to do up the flies on his jeans. He scooped it back up and tapped back a reply to Sakura’s follow up text, padding his way back into the living room/kitchen.

_I’m okay, promise. Me and Shikamaru are just ordering takeout and probably gonna hang out. You wanna come over? Might be the only thing to stop me killing him lol x_

Shikamaru was looking at him expectantly when he put his phone away. ‘Hey man, you okay with Sakura joining us later?’

Shikamaru snorted and smirked at him. ‘Considering I was expecting to find her already here when I moved in yesterday, sure. What does she usually order?’

Naruto glared at his friend and moved his policeman’s hat and tie to an empty surface, before collapsing down in his comfy sofa. ‘She’s not here all the time Shika, don’t be dramatic.’

His friend scoffed and stayed hunched over the kitchen counter on his phone. ‘She was here almost as much as I was when I lived here Naruto. Now come on, what’s she ordering? I hadn’t even placed our order yet, I can just add hers to ours.’

‘Why didn’t you order? Sakura might not even join us.’ Naruto grimaced and reclined into his sofa with a relieved groan.

‘Sure, just tell me what she’s ordering.’

Naruto was about to retort that how was he supposed to know what Sakura would want, despite knowing completely what she’d be eating if she came over, but he wasn’t going to give Shikamaru the satisfaction of being right if he didn’t have to. But then his phone went off.

_Lol he isn’t that bad surely? And yeah, I’d like that, I’m almost finished here. I’ll be with you guys in about an hour? See you soon! X_

Shikamaru was already smirking victoriously while Naruto sent back a quick reply and refused to look at his gloating friend.

‘Add kung pao chicken and some fried rice. And a couple more spring rolls. You won’t get any otherwise,’ Naruto grumbled, flicking on the TV, still without looking at the other man.

‘Don’t pout jackass,’ Shikamaru said blandly. ‘I’m the one who’s going to be playing third wheel to you and your girlfriend.’

‘For the millionth time,’ Naruto hissed. His tone doing nothing to halt Shikamaru’s slouch over to join him on the sofa. ‘Me and Sakura are _just_ friends.’

Another scoff and Shikamaru pulled out a stick of gum. ‘And me and Temari are just getting married for the tax benefits. Come on Naruto, how the hell do neither of you morons notice you two are far from just friends?’

‘Because we’re the only two people out of our friends who don’t see a close guy and girl friendship and assume there must be more to it?’ Naruto glowered at his incredulous looking friend and sighed dramatically when he didn’t let up. ‘Just cos we’re close doesn’t mean we have to hook up.’

Shikamaru made a show of considering Naruto’s point, his head bobbing from side to side, nodding occasionally. ‘Very true, male and female friendships can happen. Me, Ino and Chouji are just friends.’

‘See, told you,’ Naruto grumbled, finally settling down now that Shikamaru seemed to be convinced to let this ridiculous train of thought go. ‘Neither of you two hooked up with Ino. Sai was just friends with … well all of the women who aren’t Ino.’

Shikamaru chewed his gum, the familiar sight of him sat on the couch chewing to keep the smoking cravings at bay taking Naruto back in time to when Temari had finally had enough. It was nice to remember those times, the endless nights he and Shikamaru had spent just chilling out in their living room. Playing video games into the early hours of the morning.

He was actually almost glad to have his friend back in their old place until he saw the rare, and effortlessly smug smirk cross the other man’s face.

Suddenly, Naruto was regretting letting the lazy bastard come stay with him at all. He should have told Temari and him no. Make the prick go stay with Chouji, Naruto was already watching the ring, Chouji could have looked after Shikamaru.

‘Know who else started out as just friends though Naruto?’ Shikamaru asked, his tone perfectly innocent.

He better fucking not.

‘Kiba and Hinata,’ Shikamaru said with his mouth quirked up at the side. The smirk almost dagger sharp. ‘You know, before they started dating because it was obvious, and then they got married and now they have how many children?’

‘Two,’ Naruto growled out, pressing down hard on the remote control so the TV came to life. Maybe he could drown out his obnoxious friend.

‘That’s right,’ Shikamaru sneered. ‘But they were _just friends_ too right?’

‘You know I could break your arm in three places and then throw you in a cell until your wedding day right?’ Naruto shot back hotly. ‘Temari would probably forgive me.’

‘She wouldn’t,’ the other man said lazily with a shrug. ‘If you do that, you’ll cost her one thousand ryo.’

Naruto harrumphed and shifted on the couch, crossing his arms and deliberately not looking at his friend. ‘You’re both assholes.’

‘And you and Sakura are too chicken to act on your feelings for each other,’ Shikamaru fired back easily. ‘Like you don’t know you want each other.’

The blond blushed scarlet and turned to glower at his male best friend like he was one of the perps he had spent hours interrogating this week. ‘Why the hell did you say that?!’

‘Thought we were stating the obvious,’ the spiky haired man shrugged, completely nonplussed before his cop friend’s death glare. ‘You two eye fuck almost as much as Kakashi and Anko do. At least they’re married and have an excuse.’

Shikamaru laughed as Naruto continued to glower at him.

‘I hate you,’ Naruto grumbled and flicked the TV over to a different channel.

‘Only because you know I’m right.’

‘Bite me.’

‘Wouldn’t want to take that job away from Sakura, thanks.’

‘Shikamaru!’

* * *

To say Sakura had rushed through her work after Naruto had texted her back, would be an exaggeration if you asked her.

Understatement of the century if you asked her co-workers at the hospital apparently. But she never did so she didn’t really care. Didn’t stop Ino coming all the way from the psych ward to deliberately tell her how obvious she was about rushing to see Naruto whenever she had made plans with him.

Thankfully though, Ino was busy with patients at the end of Sakura’s shift and she’d been saved the endless argument that she and Naruto must be doing more than hanging out. Honestly, her best friend was so obsessed with sex, it was like the blonde couldn’t fathom the idea of a man and a woman being as close as Sakura and Naruto were without having sex.

Which was rich considering the smug bitch’s two oldest friends were both men. Who she’d never had an inkling of feelings for. She’d actually gotten remarkably indignant in school when people had assumed she was dating either Shikamaru or Chouji.

But apparently it was different when it came to Naruto and her. Hypocrite.

Sakura sighed deeply, breathing back in in slow, purposeful breaths. There was no point getting wound up about it. Ino wasn’t even here to rile her up, she was doing it for herself. She really needed to stop being so sensitive, it had always been why she got bullied in school.

It wasn’t her fault though, she’d been in a meeting with her boss just before the end of her day and hadn’t been able to resist checking her phone. She’d been too busy smiling at the fact that Naruto hadn’t had to ask what she’d want to add to their order. The man knew her so well it always made her feel warm and tingly in her belly.

Her mentor and the Chief of Medicine at Konoha General, Tsunade, had been smirking at her knowingly when Sakura had looked up. And just in case Sakura misunderstood what the older woman was smirking at her for she’d been more than kind enough to remove any doubt.

‘Meeting Naruto huh?’ Tsunade said over her cup of sake. Her poker face was so terrible that she couldn’t keep the assumptions off her face. ‘Wanna leave early so you can go over to his place?’

She’d have blushed if she wasn’t so use to her teasing about how close she and Naruto were. You got used to it pretty quickly when your boss was your best friend’s grandmother and had known you since you were in pigtails.

Not that Sakura had ever put her hair in pigtails but … well, the expression fit really well.

‘No,’ Sakura said evenly. ‘I mean, I am meeting him later, he invited me over for dinner. I’m acting as a buffer between him and Shikamaru. He’s had a really stressful day today and Shika’s being his usual asshole self.’

‘Uh huh,’ Tsunade said, that same knowing smirk glued to her face. ‘To keep Naruto from killing his old roommate. And not because you’ve not seen him in twenty-four hours.’

Sakura did actually blush this time. ‘Dr Senju,’ she whined.

‘Behave Sakura,’ Tsunade scoffed with an angry wave. ‘How many times have I got to tell you? No one cares when you call me Tsunade. Honestly.’

The pinkette knew that, she actively made sure no one would accuse her of being the favourite of their boss. She’d fully earned her spot as a resident at the hospital and she’d actually learned that everyone called Tsunade by her first name when the impressive woman wasn’t around.

But she’d learned from a very young age that Tsunade hated being called Dr Senju by anyone who was even remotely close to her personally. And Sakura had weaponised that fact for a very long time.

She’d feel bad about using it to get out of being teased over Naruto, but well, Tsunade didn’t seem to care about making Sakura uncomfortable for being just friends with him.

She delighted in it in fact. Especially since on a night out with all of Tsunade’s proteges, Sakura had admitted that yes, Naruto was an immensely attractive man and she’d had a bit of a crush on him all throughout high school. That had led to a very abridged retelling of the only part of her friendship with Naruto that hurt to think about. Mostly to keep the questions at bay for hopefully the final time.

Only Shizune had been kind enough to not tease her about it since. Though she supposed only Tsunade teased her about the high school stuff. Ino had been there, seen all the drama that was their last year of high school and knew how sore a subject that part was.

High school had been a cluster fuck. And if she was honest, she kicked herself for not having the guts to act on her crush for Naruto. It would have skipped so much heartbreak and even if it hadn’t lasted … it couldn’t have been worse than what had actually happened that year.

He’d never let on to having feelings for her, despite everyone they knew insisting he did. The most she’d ever been able to get out of him, via a bit of unsubtle fishing that the boy had been far too oblivious to pick up on, she knew he’d found her attractive but he never took the hint. She’d guessed that Naruto, like her, hadn’t wanted to risk losing each other as friends and ignored any possible feelings he’d had for her.

Especially when she and Sasuke had gotten drunk and fooled around at a party and started dating immediately after.

The pain in his face when he’d been around them, and had thought she wasn’t looking, was so palpable she could still remember it years after. He’d actually drawn away from her quite drastically after he’d found them mid-fool around at a graduation party.

He’d looked like a knife had been buried in his chest and it had made her ache. It was so bad that when her disastrous relationship with the school heartthrob had blown up months later, he’d moved away for university and unceremoniously dumped her like she was dead weight, she hadn’t wanted to tell Naruto. She didn’t think it was fair to turn to him for a shoulder to cry on.

Besides, he was with Hinata then and it didn’t seem right to cling to another girl’s boyfriend just because she was in pain. Even if said boyfriend was her best friend. She didn’t want to be accused of anything.

It had broken her if she was honest.

For the first time in their years of friendship she hadn’t been able to lean on Naruto. She’d been dumped by Sasuke, thought she’d lost Naruto too, and as far as she knew she hadn’t gotten into university to become a doctor either. The only thing she’d been able to do was call Ino and sob hysterically down the phone that she had no idea what she was going to do with her whole life.

The melodrama of her reaction still made her wince. Hindsight was a wonderful thing and she knew now that while that was definitely one of the worst years of her life, she’d gone through much more trying times since. The pure teenage silliness of it had been thrown into sharp relief the first time she’d had a patient flatline on her.

But when you’re eighteen and your boyfriend dumps you, your best friend is barely speaking to you and your future is uncertain … well you could be forgiven for thinking the world was ending.

She hadn’t had long to think that though, because no sooner had she hung up the phone with Ino, Naruto had all but charged into her house with a look of such intense worry that she hadn’t seen on his face except for the time his grandfather had had a heart attack while at a book signing.

His timing couldn’t have been more perfect if he’d tried. She’d been thinking just how badly she wished he was there and when she was just about to start crying again, her bedroom door had flown open and he’d come running into her bedroom.

She’d thrown herself at him in purest relief. The hug he’d given her was so strong, so warm and so goddamned intense. Like he was trying to wash away all her pain with just a hug and to be entirely truthful, him just being there had definitely cauterised the wound Sasuke had inflicted.

He didn’t say anything as she bawled into his chest, just made calming nonsense sounds as all the pain and heartache dribbled from her mouth in a rapid flurry of apologies for anything and everything she’d ever done to hurt him over the year. The fact that he’d insisted she’d done nothing wrong and that he was sorry he’d drifted away and made her think he wouldn’t come running the second she needed him.

They’d just stayed in her room for the rest of the night, he let her sleep on his chest and made her feel safe and loved. Her parents had apparently come up about an hour later to check on them and asked if they needed anything but Sakura had exhausted herself and didn’t wake up until the morning.

She’d just been thankful he was there at the time and hadn’t questioned how he knew she’d needed him. Because of course he’d known, it was Naruto. He always knew when she needed him.

It wasn’t until Ino had called the next day, after Naruto had gone home, to check on her that she find out the full story.

Sasuke, in a move she honestly would have thought him incapable of mere days before his cruel dumping of her, had text Naruto telling him that he was done with Sakura now and that the blond was welcome to his ‘sloppy seconds’ if he so wanted.

It had broken her heart again to hear how Sasuke had spoken about her to her best friend. But reminding herself of it had helped her move on from the bastard much quicker than she would have otherwise.

Her mother also told her how Naruto had basically charged through their front door and without even a passing glance at her parents, had all but flown up the steps to where he knew her bedroom was.

Naruto had always been welcome in her home, there was a bit of mistrust when he’d first bounced into Sakura’s life, but other than that he’d been allowed to come and go from her parents’ house like he was family. And he did mostly but he’d never just charged in like that.

Apparently the expression on his face had looked so alien to him that her mother nearly hadn’t recognised him. She’d actually called out to stop him but he hadn’t even broken his stride.

From that night though, Naruto and Sakura had only ever been apart for a couple days max. They’d weathered every storm in either’s life. Him being dumped by Hinata, Sasuke showing up again trying for a booty call, their entrance exams to university and the police academy respectively and every other challenge that had come their way.

They’d almost considered moving in together at one point but it had somehow never fallen into place, and having both lived with other friends and learning how drastically that changed the relationships, Sakura had never pushed the issue. She couldn’t lose Naruto, even if she thought he’d be a much better roommate than Ino was.

‘So did you get someone to cover your shift so you can go to Shika and Temari’s wedding this weekend?’ Tsunade asked, apparently done with teasing Sakura about Naruto for now. Thank god.

Sakura nodded happily, eager to follow the change in topic. ‘Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. The girls are getting together the night before to have a girly day before we head up to the hotel.’

The older woman smiled. ‘Good, you could do with some stress relief. You’re so uptight Sakura.’

The pinkette bristled a little. She wasn’t uptight! She just didn’t drink in her office or gamble her money away like her mentor.

Though she didn’t remember the last time she’d properly let loose on a girly night out. Naruto had commented on how hard she’d been pushing herself at work too, maybe she should try and find more time to go out with the girls?

‘Well hopefully this weekend will be exactly what I need,’ Sakura said with a shrug. ‘Temari’s brother’s wedding present to her was an exclusive spa day for all of the bridesmaids.’

Tsunade nodded, pouring another drink and giving her a side glance. ‘And have you decided who you’re taking as your plus one?’

The question was innocent enough, but it still made Sakura’s stomach clench. She’d only bought herself a little reprieve it seemed. Time to roll out her secret weapon again.

‘Dr Sen-’

‘Don’t,’ Tsunade interrupted with her finger pointed in her face. Sakura actually had to reel back to avoid being poked in the eye. ‘If you’re going to insist on being stubborn about your obvious feelings for my grandson, at least find somebody to take as a date. Hell, maybe seeing you dancing with another man will finally give him the kick up the ass he needs to ask you out. So, a date yes?’

Sakura blushed crimson and stammered out an excuse. ‘I don’t … I mean, I don’t need a date … besides Naruto’s not taking anyone so we thought we’d just go together.’

The older woman let out a frustrated sigh, a big one, and shook her head. Her eyes went to the heavens, she appeared to mumble something about history repeating itself but Sakura couldn’t quite catch it.

‘Fine, fine.’ Tsunade waved her hand dismissively at Sakura, the height of irritation. ‘Hopefully you’ll find the guts to make a move on him over the weekend. It’s a wedding Sakura, they’re almost made for couples to form. It’s like aftershocks from an earthquake. It’s the perfect opportunity to act.’

‘We’re just friends!’ Sakura snapped out before she could stop herself.

The older woman gave her an incredulous stare and then rolled her eyes. ‘Uh huh.’

‘We are,’ Sakura said firmly. Whether she was convincing herself or Tsunade was up in the air though.

No, it wasn’t. Tsunade had just got her rattled. It was the same thing when Ino insisted on how good a couple Naruto and her would make. Because yes, they’d be good together, they knew they would be. They were as close as people could be, they enjoyed lots of the same things and they had both made it clear they were attracted to each other.

A couple of moments in their past had made _that_ immensely clear.

But just because they would make a good couple didn’t mean they _had_ to be a couple. A couple could break up, but their friendship had lasted all the tests it could have thrown at it. And she was _not_ risking a friendship that worked so perfectly on a relationship that might ruin everything.

No matter how much part of her might agree with all her friends’ pestering.

She stared Tsunade down, the older woman meeting her gaze and then shaking her head and holding up her hands in a placating manner.

‘Okay, okay,’ Tsunade said, the frustration almost drowning her placating tone. ‘You’re friends. But I think I’ve kept you long enough now, you should probably get going.’

‘Yes,’ Sakura said, the bluster falling from her and leaving her just a little bit sheepish. She stood, scooping up her coat and her bag and giving the older woman a searching look.

She’d gotten to the door before she turned around and caught Tsunade looking disappointed at her back. ‘I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to …’

‘It’s fine Sakura,’ Tsunade said with a warm smile. ‘I shouldn’t have pushed, call it a sentimental old woman not wanting you to miss out on something great. Go, tell Naruto I say hello and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

The pinkette smiled back, nodding. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

She walked out the office and pulled out her phone to text Naruto she was on her way.

Her thumb lingered over the screen, his beaming face squashed right up next to hers at a particularly happy Christmas and she felt her tummy flip flop. The familiar, traitorous thought her brain fired at her after every chat/lecture she got about Naruto and her.

What if? What if she was wrong about just being friends? What if they _could_ be more?

But it passed, as it always did, and she shook her head to clear the thought. Tsunade, just like Ino, were just really good at pushing her buttons. That was all.

She didn’t give it another thought and start to tap out a quick text and made her way to her car.

She hoped Naruto remembered to get more spring rolls, she didn’t want Shikamaru to miss out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> I know, back on my bullshit with more AUs. I don't apologise.
> 
> So I wasn't able to contribute to NaruSaku Week 2019 but I wanted to do something and with it being the day after NaruSaku day I thought, well I've got two chapters of a short little fic and it's the day, why not publish it to try and make the day be a weekend!
> 
> So chapter 1 today, chapter 2 tomorrow, and then I will try and release the other chapters in a timely manner. Like seriously I'm off work in isolation for possibly 12 weeks, I should take advantage of the free time to write more.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I slightly missed my self-imposed deadline ... things arose. I should be starting on the next chapter soon though. I promise this will be a fic I complete in a timely manner.
> 
> Unlike everything else I've ever wrote. Sigh.

Sakura stumbled out into the living room/kitchen of Naruto’s apartment to the sound of soft snoring coming from the sofa.

Which was lucky, because she’d almost flicked on the light. Which would have been less than ideal for whichever man had lost out and had to sleep on the couch.

Naruto wouldn’t have Sakura sleep on the couch, wouldn’t even stand for the idea, so she knew either he or Shika would be out of luck.

Scrubbing her palm at her forehead, the hangover she knew would kick her in the teeth in the morning, already starting to form, Sakura did her best to tiptoe over to see which man had wound up on the sofa.

Though she was pretty sure from the snoring that she knew who she’d find. And indeed, as she leant over the back of the sofa, she saw Naruto’s peaceful sleeping face, eyes covered by his forearm as he lay there in a t-shirt and a pair of boxers.

She smiled fondly down at him and shook her head.

Of course he wouldn’t have made Shikamaru sleep on the sofa. He was too kind for that.

Sakura turned away from him, padding her way over to the kitchenette as quietly as possible.

She hadn’t meant to stay so late, she was going to let Naruto and Shika have some guy time and just swing by long enough to have some food, play some video games and enjoy the company before she headed back to her and Ino’s apartment.

But the beer had come out some time during the food, and then the wine and the spirits.

And before she knew it, Sakura had had far too much to drink to drive and the spare room that had used to be Shikamaru’s, and had sort of unofficially become hers, was where she’d be sleeping for the night.

Naruto’s strict approach to drinking and driving making it almost certain that she wasn’t going anywhere the second she’d opened her second beer.

Some people thought that was to do with him being a cop but Naruto had always been like that when it came to other people’s safety. It wasn’t a law thing, he just didn’t want anything to happen to the people he loved.

The blond snored again, a really loud obnoxious snore that nearly made Sakura giggle. The miniscule amount of a laugh that trickled past her fingers covered by the blond shifting in his sleep and grumbling something incomprehensible.

Then the familiar snoring started again and Sakura started to fill up a glass of water for her already aching head.

The fact that she could identify Naruto by his snoring was probably one of those thing best not told to their friends. One of many. That was probably only something you learned from sharing a bed with someone and well …

They’d never _shared a bed_ , shared a bed, but there had been a couple of necessary bed sharing occasions throughout their friendship.

Occasions she would reluctantly admit she would revisit in her dreams and find herself fantasising about how they could have gone differently if one of them had …

No, she shook her head. They were friends, they had decided that was best somewhere along the line she was sure. Unspoken probably, but the possibility of losing Naruto was still far too frightening than the hope of what a relationship could be like.

That didn’t stop her thinking about it though. Especially in the wee small hours of the night. Like now. It didn’t stop her _longing_ for it at this time either.

And, despite never, ever telling anyone … the decision to be just his friend certainly didn’t stop him from being in the starring role in her head when she was -

‘Ah shit!’ Sakura gasped as the water from the tap spilled over the edge of her glass and rapidly flowed over the kitchen surface.

She quickly put down the glass, not gently either she noted with a wince and set to wiping at the counter with a nearby tea towel.

‘Whozat?!’ Naruto said loudly, the couch creaking under him as he shot awake and stared directly at where Sakura was. ‘I’m a cop jackass, you broke into the wrong home!’

The blond went to stand but he was still mostly asleep and instead of standing he sort of flopped on the seat like a beached whale.

Sakura giggled despite herself, padding over to where Naruto was still trying to right himself until he fell off the sofa and landed with a not gentle sounding thud.

‘Ow,’ Naruto grunted. ‘Cheap shot.’

Sakura was already kneeling down to him when his eyes blinked open blearily. ‘Easy hero, it’s just me, no robbers.’

‘Oh,’ Naruto said, he eased himself up into a seated position and leant against the sofa, facing her with squinty eyes. ‘You okay Sakura?’

She couldn’t even with the man. He’d just fallen off his sofa hard and his first question was about her. She could mount him right now. Especially with his hair all mussed up from sleep and his shirt exposing just a bit of the toned mus-

Sakura mentally shook herself. No, bad Sakura, don’t ogle the half-asleep prime rib best friend.

The pinkette smiled at his continued concern. ‘I’m fine idiot, I was just getting some water. Keep your voice down, it’s late and we don’t want to wake Shikamaru.’

‘Pfft,’ Naruto said, but he did more whisper it, and rubbed at his eyes. ‘Lazy asshole sleeps like the dead Sakura, we could run a brass band through my bedroom and he wouldn’t so much as roll over.’

She had to give him that, Shikamaru was infamous for his deep sleeping to the extent that no number of teenage pranks played on him at sleepovers had ever dissuaded him from sleeping whenever and wherever he damn pleased.

‘How’s your head?’ Sakura asked, he was rubbing at it now and she didn’t like that wince. ‘Does it hurt?’

‘Nah, it’s fine.’ Naruto waved her off and went to stand up, only to start to wobble and nearly fall forwards.

‘Naruto!’ Sakura hissed, rising on instinct and catching him before he fell. She guided him back to the sofa. ‘Careful dummy, you might have a concussion.’

The blond shrugged. Letting his head flop back against the sofa cushion and smiled at her in what had to be an unintentional way. Because he never knowingly looked at her in ways that made her squirm wonderfully.

‘You’re really pretty you know that Sakura?’ He said, leaning closer to her so she could hear him whisper. His blue eyes radiated all manner of things that she didn’t want to examine right now. Especially because he could just be concussed. ‘Just your eyes right now … damn.’

‘And you,’ Sakura said, swallowing slightly as his gaze didn’t lessen. ‘Need to be under some light so I can check you out.’

She caught what she’d said as his grin became just a little bit more vulpine and she blushed down to her toes.

‘You know what I mean,’ Sakura said quickly, still keeping her tone down. ‘Now budge over under the light.’

Naruto wordlessly moved across the couch, his boxers, which she’d only just realised was all he was wearing underneath his t-shirt, pulling themselves into interesting shapes that revealed more of her best friend than she probably should have been seeing.

Sakura just hoped Naruto didn’t notice how she’d zeroed in on that part of him. Or that her mouth had gone dry. Thank God she’d been able to swallow the needy noise that had trembled in her throat upon seeing it.

That she could see it in the dark … _Goddddddd_

He was too out of it to notice though it seemed and Sakura had never been more thankful for the possible head injury. Just friends damn it, just friends.

‘Okay Naruto,’ she said softly, squirming in the dark as subtly as she could manage. ‘I’m going to turn on the light now okay?’

 _Not the only thing that’s gonna be turned on in here,_ her traitorous brain snickered at her.

The blond nodded gently, wincing slightly at the movement. ‘Damn, guess I hit my head harder than I thought huh?’

Sakura made a slightly admonishing noise and flicked the light on. She went straight into doctor mode to save herself any more teenage girl foolishness. Like ogling her best friend in his nightwear.

‘Okay look into my eyes please Naruto,’ she said soothingly, her hands cradling his chin warmly, lifting his head slightly to get a better angle and inspected those breathtaking blues carefully.

He did as he was told perfectly as she conducted the quick test, following her finger when she moved it across his vision back and forth and smiling gently at her the whole time.

And with how close she was leaning in, just to get a proper look you understand, she couldn’t miss a single thing going through his mind. Or where his eyes were going when she told him to look down.

Well, she’d had a little perv on him, she supposed it was only fair he got to return the favour …

And he wasn’t concussed if he could focus on, well, ahem, her girls.

It was getting hot in his apartment all of a sudden, and she had to swallow several curse words as her girls stood to attention the longer his gaze lingered down her shirt. She really needed to get off if just him looking at her breasts was making her nipples hard.

 _Could always ask for his help with that_ , her brain offered ever so helpfully.

‘Naruto,’ she said gently, ignoring the temptation that shot through her.

‘Hm?’ Naruto replied, his eyes going back to hers, full intensity hitting her right in the back of her throat and all the way down to somewhere below her navel. ‘We all done Sakura-chan?’

Another full intensity smack to her nervous system that ended up in tingly places. He hadn’t called her that in years. She’d always _loved_ when he’d done that. It made her toes curl and her stomach flip-flop. Especially when he was looking at her like he was now and calling her _that_.

She cleared her throat and stepped back to her full height. His brilliant eyes following her up as he sat there complacently.

‘Yeah, no concussion Naruto,’ she said reassuringly. ‘I think you should probably get some sleep, you’ve probably got paperwork to do tomorrow before the wedding.’

Naruto shook his head slowly, still not breaking his gaze. It was beginning to make her feel breathless to be honest.

‘Nope, I don’t have to be up at all tomorrow. I don’t need to be anywhere until the weekend now.’ His words were simple, mundane almost, but there was something about the tone that just morphed them into something slinking with sultry promise as each honey soaked word left his delectable tongue. ‘Do you have anywhere to be?’

He needed to stop looking at her like that, like right now. Seriously, right now.

‘No,’ Sakura whispered hoarsely. ‘Tsunade said I was free until after the wedding.’

‘Good,’ he whispered as he pushed himself up the couch so he was perched on the edge, the warmth of his skin caressing hers with how close they were to each other. ‘Hey Sakura-chan?’

She wanted to reach out and cup his fac - oh who was she kidding? She wanted to throw herself into his lap.

‘Yeah Naruto?’ she whispered. She bit her lip slightly as his hands lifted from the sofa and brushed her thighs before they rested between his legs, forearms settling on his partly spread thighs.

‘We’re going to a wedding this weekend,’ he said. ‘Another one in fact, and we’re going together.’ He ran the back of his finger against her knee absentmindedly. ‘Again.’

‘Yeah?’ Sakura’s breath caught in her throat as his finger kept stroking up to her thigh a little. ‘And?’

God, when had he gotten so sensuous that a touch of his finger would send shocks right up to her gut? When had that happened?! She wanted to talk to someone in management about this!

‘You think we’ll hook up this time?’

Sakura blushed darkly, his finger stroking just a little further up her thigh and she wanted to beg him to never stop. It felt so good for him to touch her there, the mere idea of how much nicer it could feel if he just went a little higher.

‘Why would we do that?’ Sakura said, the words she’d told herself repeatedly whenever her own brain decided to join in on giving her a hard time for not jumping her best friend yet. ‘We’re friends, friends don’t do that.’

Though she was wishing more and more that she wasn’t his friend right now. She’d give anything to not be his friend in this moment. To be some girl he’d brought home to use however he damn well pleased and leave her feeling more satisfied than anyone ever had.

Cus she knew he would, Hinata was a blabbermouth when she was drunk.

But Naruto just smirked at her sexily. Knowingly.

‘Friends don’t wear friends t-shirts to bed,’ Naruto whispered as more of his fingers stroked up her thigh.

‘It’s comfy,’ she murmured.

 _And it smells like him_.

‘Uh huh,’ Naruto’s other hand ghosted up the back of her other thigh, it was gloriously warm and she almost moaned just at the touch that close to her ass. ‘Friends don’t keep changes of underwear at friends’ places.’

‘I’m here so often it just seemed sensible,’ Sakura protested, biting her lip as the fingers on her inner thigh skated over her heated skin to rest on the back of her thigh, his hands cupping her legs as she stepped a little closer to him instinctively.

‘You want the big guns Sakura-chan?’ he said, his hands caressing the back of her thighs in all the ways she’d always hoped he knew how to do. ‘Fine with me.’

She nearly crumpled over his head when he pressed a firm, poignant kiss against her stomach. Even through the t-shirt she could feel his lips and it was the hottest thing she’d ever experienced in her entire damn life.

‘Friends’ don’t know how to make friends’ nipples hard,’ he nodded up at her chest and fresh fire bloomed in her cheeks.

She knew he’d been looking at her breasts! The confirmation seeming to make them stiffen even more, like they were crying out for more of his attention. Like despite the rationale of her brain, her body didn’t care and just wanted his glorious hands all over it.

They were just friends though, he wasn’t meant to look at her like that or touch her like that! No matter how much she might have tried to entice him before when they’d been drinking or those times she’d ‘forgotten’ her bra when they were hanging out at a place that allowed her to change.

She wasn’t meant to be begging the universe to let him take her.

His hands moved up her thighs and she groaned as the big palms cupped and cradled her ass, pulling her down by it and onto his lap where she could _feel_ how pleased he was to have her there.

‘And friends don’t stare at their friend’s dicks like you do,’ he whispered against her lips, the millimetres burning her with need in ways she desperately wanted to last forever. ‘Did you think I didn’t see Sakura-chan?’

‘Shut up,’ Sakura growled into his mouth. ‘Friends don’t say things like that.’

‘I’m not your friend right now,’ Naruto countered, slipping his tongue past her lips as fresh electricity danced down to her throbbing heat, which she could feel the press of his dick already rubbing against.

‘Good,’ she groaned hungrily, returning the kiss fiercely as her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers meshing into his feathery hair while she grinded onto his lap. She didn’t stop until he groaned as loudly as she did when his magical hands disappeared from her ass and snaked around her waist and dipped down to between her thighs …

* * *

‘Morning Konohans!’ The chirpy sound of a DJ screamed into the morning quiet. ‘This is Konoha’s No.1 Breakfast Show and I’m your host –’

‘ _Noooooooooooo,_ ’ Sakura whined, stabbing at the button that would silence the horrible voice that had ruined her glorious dream.

It wasn’t fair! She was so damn close! She huffed in frustration and lifted the covers and barely resisted the urge to grind her teeth.

Cockblocked by her own phone. That was cold and she eyed the innocent black slab of betrayal murderously.

Instead, because she couldn’t afford to replace a shattered phone right now, she lifted up the covers and huffed again. Slamming the covers back over herself and crossed her arms in a grumble.

‘Traitorous body,’ she grouched, glaring down at each part of her body as she admonished it. ‘Traitorous nipples. Traitorous vagina. You’re all lucky I keep clothes here or we would have words.’

She covered her face with her hands and growled audibly as she dragged her fingers over her face.

It was such a good dream too. The way Naruto had touched her, the way he’d _talked_ to her. Damn, she knew he had to be capable of being sexy like that but actually experiencing it first-hand like that … it was a trip that left her giddy even though she hadn’t actually experienced it. Not really.

_But you could …_

No she couldn’t … they were just friends and besides, she always dreamed of Naruto like that when she got drunk. That was the kind of drunk she was. She drank, she got to a certain point and she was about ready to knock down Naruto’s door and mount him like the prized stallion he was. Happened every time.

This was no different than the times before she’d dreamt of her objectively gorgeous best friend and it would be no different than the next time it happened. She was just fated to have sex dreams of him was all.

She sobered slightly, reason and sexual frustration battling for dominance until flat out exhaustion snuck in and stole the win. She sighed heavily into the air.

Looked like she was finishing herself off in Naruto’s shower again, at least the idea of him coming in behind her had a little more possibility behind it here. Probably wouldn’t take her long.

Sakura slowly rose up in the bed, kicking her legs out so she could sit on the edge of the mattress and huffed once more, a little less put out this time.

There was no point being mad at her brain for the dream, it was a nice one after all and at least she got to explore the idea of being with Naruto that way without repercussions, which was definitely fun if not completely fulfilling. But hey, no risk of screwing up their friendship. That was a win.

Besides, this was Tsunade and Ino’s fault really. Tsunade for what she said yesterday and Ino for almost bullying her into asking Naruto to be her date for the wedding, even if she hid it behind ease and to get their friends and loved ones to back off a bit.

Which to be honest, she was almost tempted to do this time. Naruto would do it, it’d get them a reprieve and maybe they could enjoy their friends’ wedding without being peer pressured into stuff they’d happily do anyway.

As if Ino and Tenten had to browbeat Sakura into dancing with Naruto, the man could move like nobody’s business. She’d lost hours dancing with Naruto at parties, she didn’t need people adding more romantic connotations to something so fun. And hanging out with Naruto was always the most fun she could possibly have at any given moment.

And it would be even more fun to be Naruto’s date. Hell, it’d be the most fun date she’d ever had, even if it remained entirely platonic.

Which she’d be fine with. Honestly.

Not to mention, Naruto would probably jump at the chance to cut loose and not be bothered about them for a bit too. Especially once she explained the exact plan to him. The hyperactive blond would jump right on board.

She smiled to herself and nodded. Sakura would go ask him right now.

Which was when she was reminded of her current predicament. Right, she’d shower, change and _then_ ask him.

Yeah, that’s what she’d do. Then they could have breakfast and laugh about how stupid all their friends were going to look when the ‘date’ ended like it was obviously going to end and they could get on with their lives happily afterwards.

What the hell? It’d be a blast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfft, you're not shocked. You knew who was writing this.
> 
> Hot though huh?
> 
> All the best,  
> Dave


	3. Him/Her

Naruto growled and rolled on his side as the morning sun filtered through his windows. Why did he replace the doors on the balcony again? The boring old standard ones the apartment had come with were fine.

When they broke he should have just asked the building supervisor to install more of the same. A door was a door, it opened regardless of how pretty it looked. Ceiling to floor sliding glass doors were no better than wooden ones with a little window in them.

But Sakura had liked them and well, that was all it took. That and no Shikamaru to argue with him that more light was not a good thing.

Oh well, he sighed to himself, peering over the arm of the sofa at the city outside his window. At least the view was pretty.

Besides, he was only grumpy because he’d slept on the sofa. Normally he’d have his bedroom and the blackout curtains. They’d found out he one hundred percent needed them if he wanted to get any kind of decent sleep at all a couple years ago.

God bless whoever came up with those things, they’d finally solved his sleeping problems once and for all.

Groaning lightly, Naruto rubbed at his back, doing his best to get rid of the stiffness stubbornly grabbing at the lower parts. He needed a new sofa, his was busted. Even he had to admit defeat after a night sleeping on it. First sofa he’d ever bought or not, when you felt a spring jabbing you in the back at three in the morning and couldn’t find it when you were looking … it was time to replace it.

So yeah, new sofa and then he’d shove this one in Sakura’s room.

The spare room, the _spare_ room. Not Sakura’s room.

Thank God he hadn’t said that out loud again.

Shikamaru had given him so much shit for calling it that yesterday. Which was stupid, Sakura didn’t so much as blink when he said it. Because that’s what it was! The pinkette slept over so damn much she may as well have it as her room. It wasn’t like he was getting another roommate after a couple years with Shikamaru, so why not let his best friend have a room at his place?

He had a drawer or two at her apartment after all. Seemed only fair.

Naruto yawned, whatever, he was too tired for this.

What time was it anyway? Just because the sun was up didn’t mean he had to be. If it was any earlier than seven he was going back to sleep.

Slapping around the floor he found his phone and dragged it up to his face. Smiling softly as the ecstatically smiling face of Sakura from her last birthday filled up the screen.

They’d gone out to her favourite restaurant and wound up sharing more than one bottle of wine on the rooftop veranda of her favourite bar, dancing into the early hours of the morning.

God she was beautiful.

He managed to just about shake himself out of the memory, blushing at himself when he realised he was stroking her face on the screen and messing up his apps.

He was still reeling from his dream. The same one he always had when she stayed over. His poor abused shower really, he always felt just that little bit filthier in it afterwards.

What on Earth had convinced his brain that Sakura was _that_ bendy?

Honestly, he could really do without the sex dreams when he was trying to convince _all_ his friends and family that he wasn’t in love with Sakura. Just because she was drop dead gorgeous, and he’d sheepishly admit to checking her out every now and again, didn’t mean he was in love with her.

And, he felt it was perfectly okay to wake up with a morning erection you could break diamonds with, after your brain assured you that your objectively gorgeous best friend was so bendy, she could be a contortionist who specifically operated in your shower.

Obvious physical attraction wasn’t love is all he was saying.

Despite what his old roommate, his grandparents or a heartbroken Hinata insisted when she’d dumped him. He still felt awful over that one. But he stood by what he’d said to her.

He wasn’t in love with Sakura, he’d had a massive crush on her in school obviously, he’d never deny that. Because doing so would make him a liar, which he wasn’t. But would he have gone out with Hinata in the first place if he’d been so madly in love with another woman?

Would he, the man who ran headlong into all sorts of dangerous active crime scenes be so afraid, to not ask a woman out if he wanted to?

But no, that didn’t matter to Hinata. He was just a coward who wouldn’t admit his feelings according to her. After a two year relationship. After they’d already shared I love yous and lost virginities to each other. When they’d been talking about moving in together after she finished university.

No, he was just with her not to be alone.

That one still stung. It had been years and they’d buried the hatchet more than well enough for him to be a groomsman at her and Kiba’s wedding. And of course he’d forgiven her, because whether it was true or not, it was true to Hinata and he’d hated the idea that he had hurt her so terribly.

Didn’t stop it stinging though.

Ugh. It was done now.

They could laugh about their relationship and even how it ended now. He was just being grumpy because he’d slept on his sofa, had the damn shower dream again and, upon checking his phone, it was only six thirty in the morning.

He tried to doze back off, but he was awake now and very aware of a tightness around his groin. And with the sun coming up at a steady pace, Naruto admitted defeat.

‘Fuck it,’ he groused, throwing his legs over the side of the sofa. At least he could take longer in the shower this way. He was probably going to need it. Normally did after that damn shower dream.

Naruto was proven right when his usual ten minute shower lasted thirty and by the time he was making breakfast for him and Sakura, because Shikamaru wouldn’t be up before eleven at the absolute earliest, it was pushing eight and Sakura was appearing out of her … the spare room.

‘Hey Sakura,’ he said cheerily. The cold shower and touching himself, the only reasons he could even look at her when she hadn’t changed out of her nightwear. ‘Enjoy your lie in?’

Sakura smiled back at him, a little tinge of pink on her cheeks and a weird stumble over her feet pulling his eyes for a second but he dismissed it. She had just woken up after all.

‘A whole extra hour I know, lucky me,’ she chuckled as she paused halfway to the bathroom. She glanced over at him and sniffed. ‘Are you making breakfast?’

‘Just about to start the eggs yeah, don’t worry I’ll leave yours on a hot plate.’ He bent down to check on the bacon and turned it over again.

‘You’re an angel,’ Sakura said with a sigh. ‘Seriously Naruto, if you throw in a turndown service I might just keep you.’

Naruto laughed, doing his best not to let his eyes linger on her bare legs when they came into his view. ‘Whatever you like Miss Haruno. At your service.’

They both laughed at that and he pretended he didn’t catch Sakura’s muttered words before she scooted off to the bathroom.

He didn’t want to read too much into them and besides, cold water didn’t stop his dream rocketing back into his mind when a half dressed Sakura was gliding off to have a shower in his bathroom. He didn’t need to add her muttered ‘yes please’ to that cocktail of sexual frustration.

The fact that the t-shirt of his she’d slept in last night cupped her ass invitingly was more than enough fuel to that fire already, thank you.

Mercifully, Sakura reappeared fully dressed and with only her hair damp thirty minutes later and he’d had the time to think of decidedly unsexy things in the meantime.

Like how much of a pain in the ass waking Shikamaru was going to be tomorrow morning.

Why had he let him stay with him again? Chouji was the best man, and he’d offered his sofa to the groom. Why was Shika here?

But no, as they’d agreed at the bachelor party, Naruto had the spare room and they did technically work in the same building. It had seemed so sensible at the time. Then again he was at least six shots of tequila deep at that point and who knew how many beers.

The blond personally felt like Chouji just hadn’t wanted to deal with Shikamaru in his house for a week. And Naruto was too nice to call him out on it.

But thinking about that had made it so when Sakura gave him that knock out smile, he was only slightly taken aback by how gorgeous she was.

He slid her plate in front of her and shimmied around the kitchen island to join her on a stool with his own plate.

‘Did you wait to eat with me?’ she asked glancing at his plate with a slight frown. ‘Dummy, you should have eaten. What if I’d taken ages?’

Naruto shrugged and nudged her with his shoulder, earning himself a small smile. ‘It’s nicer eating with company anyway. Besides, it’d be rude to just sit here watching you eat.’

She nudged him back and chewed on a piece of bacon. ‘Stubborn man, though I guess you’re right, this is nice.’

He grinned victoriously and reached across her to get the jug of orange juice and held it by her empty glass, mostly to cover that he’d gotten a waft of her cherry flavoured shampoo and god it was heavenly as always.

She nodded, the whole thing adorable when she was daintily chewing on her breakfast, and he filled up her glass until she made a noise to tell him to stop.

Filling his own glass, Naruto found himself smiling. This might actually be his favourite part of Sakura spending the night. When they got to have breakfast in the morning without rushing off to work.

It felt very domestic and it was almost enough to make him ask her if she wanted to reconsider moving in. So they could do this all the more, maybe every morning. That’d be great.

But it was always an almost. They kept some truly crazy hours and while they normally matched up pretty well he didn’t want to come barrelling in after a morning shift when she was still sleeping off an evening one.

Though since he’d been made a detective his hours were more set …

She pointed across him at the ketchup and made a few more adorable noises, he chuckled and went to pass the ketchup to Sakura, pulling it away when she reached for it, getting a light swat on the arm.

‘Use your words Sakura,’ he chuckled when he kept it out of her grabbing hands’ reach.

She swallowed and glared at him. ‘Please,’ she sneered at him.

‘There you go,’ Naruto said cheekily, offering the bottle to her.

She took it with another playful glare and a poke in the rib. ‘Smartass.’

‘You love it,’ he said dismissively.

They sat there eating breakfast, in companionable silence for a few more minutes until Sakura broke it with a nervous clearing of her throat.

‘So …’ Sakura started, Naruto turning to look at her. ‘I was thinking about the wedding.’

‘Uh huh,’ Naruto said, filling up more orange juice in his glass. ‘If it’s about how we get up there, you know you’re welcome to drive up with me and Shika. I can pick you up from your apartment tomorrow morning.’

She beamed at him quickly. ‘You’re lovely, but no, we’re having a bit of a girly night tonight and if I’m not there to drag Ino’s hungover ass to the venue she’ll never get there in time.’

Naruto shrugged. ‘Offer stands Sakura, I can always take her up as well. You know how big the trunk of the Jeep is, remember when we went camping?’

Sakura bobbed her head from side to side. ‘True, I’ll let you know. But that wasn’t what – um – I wanted to talk to you about.’

She blushed lightly, bit her lip and the searching look she gave him before she spoke just made him want to wrap his arms around her, and tell her he’d do whatever she wanted, as long as she smiled again.

‘Yeah?’ Naruto asked gently, sipping more of his juice.

She smiled a little and with what looked like a decisive nod said, ‘I think we should go together to the wedding.’

Naruto made a face. ‘Well of course, we were already going to Sakura, I don’t under-’

‘No Naruto,’ Sakura interrupted her blush going a little darker and the biting of her lip turning into chewing. Her hands rubbing each other in her lap. ‘As in go as each other’s date. As in date date.’

Naruto wished he’d reacted with poise when Sakura had said that. He wished he’d given it a think and calmly and happily told Sakura he’d be happy to.

But he hadn’t done that.

Naruto spat his orange juice all over the kitchen island counter and coughed and spluttered as Sakura looked truly terrified while he hurriedly wiped at his mouth and top with a nearby dish towel.

‘What?!’ Naruto croaked as he warily eyed his juice before sipping it down.

‘I, uh, well, um,’ Sakura said, stumbling over her words. ‘I just thought it’d give us some relief from all the prodding and poking and we could actually enjoy this weekend if we took away their ability to tease us about how we should be a couple if we just showed up as each other’s date. Like, we could keep it entirely platonic and just hang out like we were going to anyway, we know they’re going to shove us together in every way they can so why not just take that away from them and beat them to the punch? But I guess you don’t want to which is fine and I’m sorry, I just thought it would be fun, sorry.’

Naruto thought he caught all of the rambling, and he agreed with everything he heard. Problem was his throat was still burning from the coughing and he could barely do anything more than blink wetly.

She looked about ready to bolt, mortified more than he’d ever seen her and he could already feel the hurt bubbling in her eyes. ‘Forget it, it was stupid. Sorry.’

‘No,’ he forced out, coughing his throat clear. ‘Sorry, Sakura, you just caught me by surprise.’

She didn’t turn to look at him fully, glancing timidly at him and wringing her hands as he coughed some more and sipped down more traitorous orange juice.

‘I think that’d be great,’ Naruto said finally, clearing his throat one more time and smiling as big as he could at the still hurt looking Sakura. ‘It’d be fun.’

‘You don’t have to …’ Sakura said meekly. She turned her face away from him to inspect something on the counter. ‘It’s okay.’

Ah fuck, why couldn’t he be smoother? Or just a little less of an idiot. It really did sound like a brilliant idea and it would be so much more fun if they took the teeth out of their friends’ teasing.

Plus it was yet another excuse to spend all the time he wanted with Sakura. Always a plus.

‘Sakura,’ Naruto said soothingly, reaching out to stroke her arm. She jumped slightly at the touch but didn’t pull away. He wasn’t completely up shit’s creek then. ‘I would love to be your date date.’

The pinkette looked him in the eye, nearly knocking him over with how gorgeous her eyes were. Their being watery making them shine even more than usual. ‘You’re not just saying that to save my feelings right? I’ll kick your ass if you are.’

She frowned at him slightly as he grinned a little. ‘I know, no Sakura I think it’d be great. It’d get them to shut up and focus on Shika and Temari, we were going together anyway and hell just cus it’s a date doesn’t mean we have to do anything we wouldn’t do on a normal night out.’

‘You sure?’ Sakura asked, the uncertainty seemingly giving way to hope when he nodded. ‘Okay! Great! I can’t wait to see their faces when we tell them we’re going as each other’s date. They’ll be speechless.’

Naruto chuckled as Sakura continued on with her breakfast and ran through all the ways they could mess with their friends. Throwing in a few playful suggestions which only seemed to fuel Sakura’s growing excitement every now and then.

Until he threw in one particular idea without thinking and it left them both blushing and grinning sheepishly at each other.

‘Sharing a bed might be a bit much huh?’ Naruto chuckled weakly. ‘We’ve already got rooms booked anyway, the venue staff probably wouldn’t be too pleased with us if we tried to rearrange the day before.’

‘Yeah,’ Sakura agreed with her own laugh. ‘You’ll have to find another way to get me into your bed Mr Uzumaki,’ she teased and Naruto felt like his face burst into flame at the cheeky wink she gave him.

‘Challenge accepted,’ Naruto teased back and tried not to read too much into the silence that fell on them after that joke.

They finished off their breakfasts, Sakura asking for a second serving of toast for the road and the conversation moved on to more logistical and safe topics. Like making sure he’d remembered to get the right kind of tie to match the other groomsmen, to remember to bring at least a couple spare pairs of socks and boxers just in case.

He could almost see what people were getting at about her being his wife when she reminded him for the fifth time in that conversation to pack his suitcase. Which while he felt personally was an unnecessary amount of times … he’d had a bag ready since before Shikamaru arrived … he knew Sakura was speaking from years of experience.

Neither of them wanted another fiasco like the group beach holiday. Naruto had forgotten to pack until the night before. Sakura had looked ready to murder him when she’d walked in to his apartment finding him throwing stuff in a suitcase haphazardly.

The rest of breakfast went along as per usual, Sakura had started watching a new TV program she wanted him to try and was telling him all about it dropping so many spoilers he probably didn’t need to watch it anymore, and before too long it was time for Sakura to leave.

‘Okay,’ she said glancing at her phone as the screen lit up with a text message. Making Naruto groan.

She _still_ had the picture of him with those stupid whisker tattoos he’d gotten when they were drunk, as her phone background.

_‘It’s cute! You look like a little fox!’_ She always cooed whenever he protested that the picture was embarrassing. Like they were the little cherry blossom tattoo she’d gotten under her left shoulder blade. That one was actually really pretty. The whiskers had just been stupid.

And she always won that argument, if you could call it that, cus she’d just smile at him and flutter her eyelashes until he gave up with a grumbled ‘fine.’

At least she’d held his hand when he’d gone to get the laser removal. It hadn’t hurt but lasers to your face was still unnerving.

She caught him grimacing at her phone and grinned at him innocently. Hm.

‘I think I’d best get going Naruto, Ino’s still freaking out over what to wear to the reception and she needs me desperately.’ Sakura said with a fond shake of her head. ‘You’d think she was the one getting married.’

They chuckled a little and Sakura’s phone went off again. She blushed and scowled at the new text message.

Naruto didn’t need to ask what the message had said, he’d made the mistake of reading one or two before and well … he’d always known Ino had a dirty mind but seeing what she thought he and Sakura were doing at any given moment was something else entirely.

‘Can I please tell her we’re going as each other’s date?’ Sakura pleaded, reaching out to squeeze his fingers. ‘I promise to save most of the reveals for tomorrow so we can just savour it but I can’t put up with a whole day of … well this.’

She showed him the text message and it was Naruto’s turn to blush. ‘She’s getting more inventive the longer we ‘deny the obvious’ isn’t she?’

Sakura sighed angrily and shoved her phone into her back jeans pocket. ‘You have no idea. So can I tell her?’

‘Sure, but you know she’ll only get worse. Everyone else will back off but you know Ino’s gonna take it as an excuse to dig deeper.’ Naruto shrugged, trying his best to banish the images Ino’s text filled his mind with. He was going to need another cold shower at this rate, damn.

‘That’s fine, it might move to more romantic stuff instead of things that belong in a porno,’ Sakura grumbled without looking at him. She pulled on her jacket and threw her bag over her shoulder. ‘I’ll text you later with the results kay?’

‘Do, and try to have fun.’ Naruto chuckled as he walked with her to the door. ‘Let me know if you want me to pick you up tomorrow yeah?’

Sakura reached up on her tip toes as they hugged and pecked him on the cheek. ‘I will, have a good day Naruto, love you.’

Naruto hugged back and opened the door for her. ‘Love you too Sakura-chan.’

Sakura was blushing when he pulled back and by the time Naruto could register what he’d said …

‘Okay, bye Naruto!’ And she all but sprinted out his door and down the corridor.

He’d called her Sakura-chan. He hadn’t done that since school …

‘Ohhhhh,’ Naruto muttered to himself. ‘Uzumaki what have you gotten yourself into this time?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in two hours guys. Just damn.


	4. Longing

_Love you too, Sakura-chan_.

_Sakura-chan_.

**_Sakura-chan_**.

Oh God.

He hadn’t called her that in years, almost a damn decade. Even when they were drunk, even when they’d hit rock bottom and sobbed together. Hell, he hadn’t even called her that to tease her, and the two of them lived to wind each other up.

He said it in her dreams all the time of course. She never really delved into that too much though, because well … then she’d have to admit to herself how much she loved him calling her that. And how much she missed it.

But her brain was firing on all cylinders and it just kept replaying him saying it over and over again, merging it with the vestiges of last night’s dream, goddddddd.

She rested her head against the steering wheel of her car, resisting the urge to headbutt the leather grip. This was ridiculous. He probably just slipped for some completely innocent reason. Or she heard him say it but he didn’t actually say it.

It wouldn’t be the first time her thirsty ass heard him add chan to her name when he hadn’t actually said it.

Except she’d been stood so close to him she couldn’t miss the acknowledgement and shock in his eyes. His gloriously blue eyes. His endlessly welcoming, soul quenchingly deep eyes.

He knew what he’d said, he knew she’d heard him and that meant it was all too real.

And which was why she felt entirely fine having bolted. Twenty-seven or not, she was allowed to freak out like that sometimes. Especially when her bonkers hot, best friend called her by her old pet name, from back when she may or may not have had a crush on him through school, okay?

Her phone was going off in the passenger seat. She daren’t look at it.

The first possibility was it was Naruto checking in on her. Which she didn’t feel emotionally strong enough to deal with right now. The second was that it was Ino peppering her with constant texts like the one she’d sent just before she’d left. And the last thing she needed right now was more pushing to go back and jump Naruto’s bones.

She’d been thinking about doing exactly that for the entire thirty minute journey home anyway. Now she was in the parking lot, she was still struggling to resist the urge.

The third option, and about the only one she could deal with, was that work was asking her to come in today and do a quick shift before the weekend. That she could handle. She could throw herself into work and not think about how damn gooey and horny Naruto had just made her by saying one extra word than normal.

God she needed to get laid.

She headbutted the steering wheel lightly and grumbled. Her phone burst into life with what was unmistakeably Ino’s ringtone. Sakura glared at the thing and scooped it up and shoved it into the bottom of her bag, muffling the song for the most part.

She was outside their building already, the bitch could wait.

Slamming herself back against her seat, Sakura growled and dragged her fingers over her face. Enough, enough! This was ridiculous. She was a grown ass woman. She was a doctor for fuck’s sake. So what if he’d called her Sakura-chan? He used to do it all the time and it didn’t drive her anywhere near to this crazy back then.

It was probably just having such an effect because of the dream. They did always tend to linger with her for the entire day afterwards. The horny they inspired did at least. It’d die down and go away like it always did.

She would go upstairs, tell Ino about her and Naruto going as each other’s dates, and then help her indecisive roommate choose the right dress for the reception and then when she went to bed tonight she’d go to town on herself. That’d fix it.

Sounded like a good plan to her.

_Sakura-chan …_

She grumbled again, but she had a plan now and used the power of the plan to force herself past the wobbliness in her knees. She even managed to make it up to her and Ino’s apartment without thinking about his lips and what he could do with them.

Then thankfully she was greeted with the madness that was her living room and Naruto was shoved right out of her mind.

Wine glasses, plates and cutlery, a burned out stub of a long candle were spread out on the glass coffee table, the remnants of last night’s meal still congealed to the plates. There was also both male and female clothing strewn all over the sofa and floor in a very telling path towards Ino’s bedroom.

She caught sight of the shiny inside of a condom wrapper and decided she’d seen enough.

‘Ino!’

‘Shit,’ she heard Ino hiss from her bedroom. ‘Be right with you!’ she shouted back to Sakura.

Sakura stood in the middle of Ino’s late night activities feeling very much like an angry mother who’d caught her teenage daughter with a boy …

Which she guessed she sort of had … if you really stretched it.

She crossed her arms and kept her best annoyed scowl on her face as she tried to not let her mind wonder what sort of state she and Naruto could leave the room in as revenge.

Naruto had suggested they trash the living room as revenge on one of the rare occasions they’d been able to hang out at her and Ino’s flat during her fling with Kiba. Ino and Kiba had hooked up on and off for a year back when the two women first moved in together. It had been … a car crash that just kept happening truth be told. Sakura had more or less just retreated to Naruto and Shika’s as often as she could during that whole mess.

Naruto’s suggestion had never included actually having sex though. Sakura’s mind was decidedly including that part right now.

And it needed to stop.

She thought they had a system in place now? And with it being Sai, Ino had actually been pretty good about keeping sexcapades to her bedroom and warning her when the quiet man was coming round for a date night.

She hadn’t actually walked into a bombsite like this in a _very_ long time.

Ino appeared around the corner and into the open space living room/kitchen.

‘Hiya Forehead, wasn’t expecting you for a little while,’ Ino said sweetly, not so subtly darting around her and picking up bits and pieces of the destruction in their shared living room.

‘I can see that,’ Sakura grumbled coolly. She scooped up the condom wrapper and held it between two fingers for Ino to see. ‘Where’s Sai?’

Ino had the good grace to blush slightly. ‘He had to leave early, he’s doing some last minute decorations for Shika and Temari.’

‘And you didn’t clean this up before he left because?’ She gestured at the steadily shrinking mess. ‘Honestly Ino, you promised I’d never find this sort of shit again.’

‘I know!’ Ino said, snatching the condom packet out of Sakura’s fingers and darting it into the nearest bin. ‘I know, but we got a bit carried away and you know how I’ve been trying to get Sai to be more adventurous?’

Sakura rolled her eyes. Because yes, she really did know that. And way too much about Ino’s sex life to be frank. The things she knew about Ino’s sexual partners … it made her feel like a massive pervert.

It wasn’t Sakura’s fault Ino went on and on in such detail. She hadn’t been able to look Kiba in the eye for years after everything she was told about him. The only relief with Sai being Ino’s newest boyfriend was he actually was worth gushing about for more than just sex.

Didn’t stop Ino gushing about the sex all the same.

‘Yes …’

‘Well he took the initiative on the sofa right after dinner so …’ Ino shrugged and smiled to herself. ‘Anyway, when you didn’t reply to my texts I thought maybe you’d finally acted on my advice and I’d have longer to clean up.’

Ino gave her a long look, the kind of look that made Sakura want to wrap her arms around herself to keep the other woman from looking right through her.

‘But given how you’ve clearly got a stick up your ass still you didn’t.’ Ino sighed, smacking Sakura lightly on the arm with the back of her fingers. ‘Honestly Sakura, what does a girl have to do to get you to bang that gorgeous man?’

‘We’re not talking about me and Naruto right now,’ Sakura growled as she stormed past the blonde and all but slammed her bag onto the kitchen counter. ‘You should have cleaned this up when you woke up and you know it.’

Ino held up her hands in defeat. ‘Yes, yes, I know. I’m sorry, promise it won’t happen again. Would it help if I told you it was some of the best sex we’ve ever had though?’

‘Ino!’

‘Right, right! Sorry, you still gonna help me pick a dress though? I really need your help there.’ Ino gave Sakura the puppy dog eye treatment, with full stuck out lip and clasped hands. ‘Please Sakura, you always pick the best dresses for me.’

Sakura grumbled and pulled out her phone, it had stopped going off now so it probably wasn’t work or Naruto who’d been blowing it up earlier. Best to get the slurry of filth from Ino out of the way. It’d only annoy her more to have visions of what Ino thought she and Naruto were getting up to once she’d calmed down if she left it until later.

‘Fine,’ Sakura said eventually, smiling absently as Naruto’s whiskered face lit up her screen. Seven texts from Ino, huh, it had seemed like more, a couple missed calls and an answer phone messages that she had probably best delete straight away.

‘You’re the best Sakura!’ Ino cheered, hurriedly scooping up the remaining clothes and disappearing them into her room. Which was probably in an even worse state than the living room had been.

The pinkette quickly erased the answer phone messages, she’d made the mistake of listening to one from Ino after an overnight stay at Naruto’s once and, suffice to say, she’d never do that again.

Texts were harder to ignore though and just reading them was making her blush so hard it could probably be seen from space. She involuntarily rubbed her thighs together when she got to one that listed her and Naruto in her favourite position. She nearly launched her phone at Ino when the blonde grinned at her knowingly.

‘Why did you text me _that_?!’ Sakura growled at her.

‘That’s what you get for answering that question honestly during Truth or Dare Forehead,’ Ino teased in a sing song voice. ‘I did tell you, you should’ve taken the dare instead …’

‘You dared me to show up at Naruto’s in just my underwear with beer and ramen,’ Sakura ground out, she’d be worried she’d break her teeth if she wasn’t so angry. ‘I was _never_ going to do that. Besides how do you even remember that? That game was during med school!’

Ino just winked saucily. ‘It was a very revealing answer Forehead, I wouldn’t be surprised if the other girls remember too. You kinky thing you.’

Sakura blushed into her hands and growled out her distaste for Ino as loudly as she could.

It helped distract from picturing Naruto underneath her as she rode him with her hands behind her …

She shook her head and pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge. She hated her roommate, she hated her a lot.

‘And not for nothing Sakura,’ Ino said as she brought the dishes over to the sink. ‘If you’d done it, the two of you would probably have gotten together by now. Not my fault you chickened out.’

‘I’m not having this argument with you again,’ Sakura groused. Wandering over to the sofa that was now mercifully clear. She gestured at the sofa to a watching Ino and the blonde shook her head.

‘We got to the bedroom before that,’ Ino assured her, coming over to sit next to Sakura on the chair. ‘Even I’m not that inconsiderate. Promise.’

The pinkette sighed in relief and nestled down onto the comfortable sofa. ‘You had a nice night then?’

Ino nodded eagerly. ‘It was so lovely Sakura, I know you don’t wanna know about it now but it really was amazing, I think I’m falling for him.’

Sakura smiled warmly at her exuberant friend. ‘You can tell me all about it later when we have wine. Just … no sex talk now alright?’

Ino nodded and leant in against her. She gave her a nudge with her elbow. ‘You had another dream didn’t you?’

‘Shut up Ino,’ Sakura said without any venom. Lying about it was pointless, her sex obsessed friend always seemed to know. It was like she could smell it on her.

‘Seriously Forehead,’ Ino said with a long suffering sigh. ‘Just make a move on him already. If nothing else it’ll alleviate the tension. And you know he wants you too.’

‘I said we weren’t having this argument,’ Sakura repeated herself evenly. She had to do that a lot with Ino. Always had. ‘But if I tell you something we agreed on today will you let it go until after the wedding?’

That got her a moment’s silence and a delighted smile from Ino. ‘Depends. What sort of agreement are we talking about? Coz frankly Forehead, neither of you strike me as the fuck buddy type.’

Sakura was about to admonish Ino, colour already racing up her neck, but she couldn’t honestly do it. It wasn’t important and now she was on the precipice of telling Ino she and Naruto were going as each other’s dates to the wedding … she was reluctant.

Once she told Ino she couldn’t take it back. The plan that could be abandoned right up until they got to the venue if Naruto or her decided it wasn’t such a good idea, would then be set in stone and she’d have trapped them in it.

Ino would never let her live it down if she told her they were going together like that and then backed out.

It would probably be what tipped the pushy blonde over the edge and make her act on her threat to push them into a bedroom and not let them out until they’d fucked.

Which didn’t seem like such a bad thing if you asked her brain. Which wasn’t helping. At all.

Well, best treat it like a band-aid and rip it off to get it over with, she supposed.

‘We’re going to the wedding as each other’s date,’ Sakura said quickly.

Ino paused, it was like the universe had frozen around the two women and something in her had just snapped off. Sakura was actually getting a bit unnerved by how long she was just blankly staring at her.

She was about to check her pulse just to make sure she hadn’t killed her friend when Ino finally spoke.

‘No way,’ Ino said, frowning at her. ‘No way, don’t mess with me Sakura, what did you really decide?’

She got a bit indignant at that. She thought this would be big news! Even if it wasn’t a romantic date, she thought it merited some excitement! All their friends had been pushing for this since before they’d dated other people!

‘I’m serious Pig,’ Sakura said hotly. ‘We’re going as each other’s date.’

‘Not just each other’s plus one?’ Ino asked, crossing her arms and peering at Sakura like she could see into her very soul. ‘His _date_ , date?’

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said, a giddy little tingle running through her.

_Sakura-chan_ …

‘His _date_ , date.’

Ino kept staring at her, it felt like she’d never stop and then her lips slowly turned up and the blonde threw up her arms so quickly the tank top she was wearing rose to expose some of her tummy.

‘YES!’ Ino cheered as she grabbed Sakura’s hands and squeezed them so hard she thought her fingers might pop off. ‘Finally! This is amazing! You guys are finally going on a date! And at a wedding! Oh Sakura this is fucking perfect! Well screw my dress we’ve gotta pick yours! And the right sexy underwear! I can lend you some if you need some!’

Ino had started bouncing on the sofa and threw herself at Sakura in a bone crushing hug before the pinkette could explain it was just a platonic date.

‘Do you have condoms? I know you’re on the pill but we don’t want to take any risks, you two have got so much sex to catch up, we don’t wanna throw a pregnancy into the works and mess that up.’

‘I – um … Ino it’s not actually that kind of –’ Sakura tried to say as her face exploded with colour.

Ino was already pulling her towards her bedroom, pointedly ignoring her protests. ‘Shh, Forehead, it’s okay, you just let Ino take care of everything. Once I’m done with you, you’ll have him eating out of your hand … and other places …’

‘Ino!’ Sakura gasped but was silenced with a wink.

She was already regretting telling her.

‘And hey, you can finally make that little fantasy of yours come true!’ Ino beamed as Sakura was dragged fully into the bombsite that was Ino’s room.

Tonight was going to be a looooooong night.

* * *

Naruto honked the horn as he and Shikamaru pulled into the car park. He may have also deliberately driven over the speed bump in such a way to jolt his passenger awake painfully.

‘Man,’ Shikamaru winced from the backseat, where he’d stretched out to have another freaking nap. ‘Did you have to do that asshole?’

‘Maybe next time, when I tell you not to lie down in the back of a car,’ Naruto said innocently with a shrug and another honk of his horn. ‘You’ll do it.’

‘Troublesome,’ Shikamaru grumbled, shuffling around to right himself in his seat. ‘If you’d let me sit in the front, I wouldn’t have fallen asleep.’

Ino’s smiling face appeared in their kitchen window, her waving hand reaching out into the clear blue sky. Naruto was pretty sure she shouted that they’d be down in a minute but he wasn’t sure.

Best just get the trunk ready regardless.

‘I didn’t make you get in the back,’ Naruto pointed out as he hopped out of the Jeep. He wrenched open the passenger door so Shikamaru was hit with the morning breeze. ‘You didn’t even try for the front seat.’

‘Yeah,’ the other man said snarkily. He rolled out of the car to join Naruto at the trunk. ‘Because you didn’t need to. Sakura’s got dibs and we all know it. And your girlfriend never gets told no, ow!’

Naruto pretended to wince. ‘Oh. I’m so sorry there Shika, did I get you with the door when you were talking out your ass?’

Shikamaru grumbled some more, rubbing at his stomach where the door hit him, and at the sleep crystals crusting up his eyes.

‘You’re pissy this morning,’ he muttered. He checked his phone, yawning loudly and stretching up one arm while pocketing his phone again. ‘This got something to do with what you said to Sakura on her way out yesterday morning?’

Naruto decidedly didn’t turn to look at his perceptive friend. Because he still hadn’t figured out how Shikamaru had heard that particular exchange.

‘Don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said dismissively. Naruto repositioned their suitcases to make room for the girls’ and checked their suit bags were still hanging on the hooks in the large trunk. ‘You misheard me anyway.’

‘Bullshit,’ Shika said mildly. ‘Come on Naruto, you called her Sakura-chan. I know you guys have been pretty liberal with the ‘I love you’s since school but you never call her that anymore. I never understood why you stopped doing that by the way.’

He’d had a day of this sort of needling yesterday. Granted, Shikamaru seemed to have picked up on this thread being something he should tug on _very_ carefully but that hadn’t stopped him tugging.

He’d only stopped when Naruto had not-entirely-jokingly asked how Shikamaru was planning on getting to the venue for his wedding weekend. Intrusions into his love life, friend or not, were not something Naruto was in the mood for right now.

Not that he ever was in the mood for it.

Naruto let the innocent expression fall from his face. ‘I don’t want to talk about it, and given how the girls are probably on the way down … let’s just focus on your wedding yeah? Something real please.’

Real. Like the fact that Sakura’s texts had been a bit sparse yesterday. How he’d had a feeling of dread about this weekend ever since Sakura had left yesterday.

Real like how much he really wanted to keep calling her Sakura-chan and had only ever stopped because he hadn’t wanted to … because it had hurt too much to call her Sakura-chan while she’d been dating Sasuke. Because she wasn’t _his_ Sakura-chan anymore.

Ugh, teenaged angst. He hadn’t missed it.

‘Alright, alright,’ Shikamaru said with an impatient sigh. ‘But you know she won’t have forgotten. You just best hope she didn’t tell Ino. I can’t save you if she has.’

_Don’t remind me_ , Naruto grumbled to himself.

Ino was their loudest and most abrasive advocate and had been for what seemed like forever. There had been more than one house party where the blonde had pulled him aside to drunkenly give him dating advice in regards to Sakura.

The woman had been beyond put out when Sakura had started dating Sasuke and Naruto had dated Hinata. The blonde seemed to take it as some unforgivable sin that the second they were both single again, that they hadn’t immediately gotten together.

Sakura had sent him a few texts during what had apparently gone from helping Ino with her dress to just a general girly day and night of wine and movies. But she had definitely told him that Ino knew about their platonic date.

Another thing Naruto had been wondering about. Was the platonic date really a good idea? He hadn’t counted on his complicated feelings for Sakura coming back. The physical attraction and deep love and affection weren’t new of course … but there were not so nice parts of their history too that had come back as his brain circled in on itself.

But she’d told Ino now, there was no going back from that. Especially given how much of a grilling Sakura had undoubtedly gotten. Naruto really hoped she hadn’t mentioned the Sakura-chan thing.

It had been a slip of the tongue, he hadn’t meant to call her that. But he didn’t know how to tell Sakura that without hurting her feelings. They were definitely going to have to talk about it though. He didn’t want to hurt Sakura by making her more confused than she looked when she’d left.

The pinkette’s texts had been rarer yesterday which could only mean something was taking up her attention. He just hoped it was Ino’s doing not her tearing herself apart trying to figure out why he’d called her Sakura-chan again.

But the texts had been no different than normal. They’d joked about Ino’s incessant worrying about her dress, teased each other and made various in-jokes. There’d even been more than a few texts, when the girls had broken out the wine, which Naruto thought were kinda flirty?

Though that wasn’t new. Alcohol tended to bring out Sakura’s more flirty side, especially if Ino was there to goad her on. And supply more alcohol.

The best example being the night of his twenty-second birthday.

Ino had dragged them all to a club and shoved Naruto and Sakura onto the nearest dancefloor. And any time someone tried to cut in with either of them … Ino would just appear and almost snarl the unsuspecting man or woman away.

Naruto and Sakura wound up dancing together all night. It had been wonderful, they’d been silly with each other, being overdramatic and basically doing anything they could to make the other laugh and then there’d been one particular slow dance. His hands on her lower back and hip perfectly, her arms looped around his neck. Her delicate fingers playing with his hair. The smell of her perfume mixing with his cologne and their sweat, her mouth so close he could taste her lip balm on his tongue.

He could still remember the look in Sakura’s eyes when she’d started to lean in.

And the pain in them when he’d pulled away at the last minute. She’d covered it quickly and the dancing had gone sillier and much more like friends cutting loose than … anything else.

They’d been drunk and it had felt wrong to him. Besides, Sakura had never mentioned it so he was probably the only one of them who remembered. It was fine. They didn’t cross any lines and other than each having monster headaches the next day … they’d carried on as normal.

But that wouldn’t be the last time they’d nearly kissed and while he thought he remembered most of them … he couldn’t be sure. Sakura didn’t remember all of them either but they’d had a good laugh about each of them they could remember.

Except the one from his twenty-second birthday. He’d never told her that one. Because that one … that one had felt … it had felt like the only one that was a genuinely lost opportunity. He _should_ have acted on that one. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. Yeah they’d been drunk but … had they actually been that drunk? What if he’d just kissed her and seen where it had went?

Where would they be now if he’d done that?

‘Naruto!’ Sakura called from the door to her building, a pink suitcase trundling behind her as she half-run up to him. Her loose ponytail bouncing lightly between her shoulder blades.

He caught the hug before she basically tackled him, and was assaulted with every glorious scent of Sakura as her face buried into his neck instinctively.

‘Please tell me I have the front seat?’ She whispered hurriedly without pulling away from him. ‘She’s been so much worse than I ever thought possible.’

‘Warned you,’ he muttered back. Leaning down to pick up the handle of Sakura’s suitcase and pull it round to back of his Jeep. ‘But yeah, Shika’s in the back with Ino.’

‘Thank God, I told her about it being a date, totally platonic of course! But I didn’t even get that far and she just went crazy.’ Sakura cast a look back over her shoulder as Ino appeared with her own deep purple suitcase and was noticeably having more difficulty with it than Sakura had. ‘And she still found time to bring half her wardrobe.’

Naruto chuckled lightly and nudged Sakura with his shoulder. ‘Don’t be mean, her childhood friend is getting married. She’s just excited.’

She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. She hefted her suitcase up into the empty space by Naruto’s in the trunk.

And he totally didn’t take the opportunity to watch how her perfectly normal and casual, loose fit clothing, which was perfectly understandable to wear when you were going to be in a car for an hour … made her look absolutely stunning and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

Which he supposed wasn’t anything new. He’d been like that all through school too. Even when she’d been dating Sasuke he hadn’t been able to stop being captivated by her. And it just made him feel like a goddamn possessive monster.

Which he wasn’t, he had never presumed to own Sakura, wouldn’t have dreamed of it. And it wasn’t like he was angry with her for dating someone else. She’d dated other men since Sasuke. And it wasn’t like he’d been waiting dutifully like some great romantic hero for her to notice his childhood crush.

He’d moved on, he’d dated Hinata and a few other women and neither he nor Sakura had ever been weird about it. It had been _fine_.

They’d even talked about her and Sasuke. Just like they’d talked about him and Hinata. If either of them had wanted to take their relationship beyond what it was … even discuss the idea of it, they’d have done that years ago. Like on his twenty-second birthday.

Ugh.

This was just because of the damn pet name. Maybe he should have never stopped calling her it. Then this wouldn’t be such a big deal. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t called her it in his mind even if he didn’t actually say it out loud.

She was looking at him now though, blushing slightly as he caught where his eyes had landed and she punched him lightly in the chest.

‘It’s a _platonic_ date right Naruto? Stop staring at my ass.’ She laughed and he mirrored it on reflex.

‘I mean, have you seen your ass Sakura? Can you blame me?’ Naruto fired back automatically and that earned him another blush and a light punch. But Sakura’s fingers lingered against his arm longer this time.

‘Then you’ll have no problem if I stare at yours in those jeans?’ Sakura whispered conspiratorially, leaning herself against him temptingly. ‘Cuz damn Naruto, I need to thank the designer for the view.’

‘I – uh well, Sakura that’s …’

Ugh, he wasn’t a goddamn teenager anymore. He could flirt with his hot best friend and not go all awkward and tongue-tied.

Hell, they did it all the time. They’d damn near made a game out of it at this point. And Sakura had just scored another win it would seem.

Mirth filled her eyes and something else hid behind it and Naruto couldn’t bring himself to pull away from the closeness. He could taste Sakura’s toothpaste she was so close.

Green eyes fixed on him as a small smile pulled on her lips. ‘You okay there Naruto?’

He wondered how much bigger he could make that smile by kissing it. And if her lips would feel as blissful against his as he’d always absently wondered. He’d lost more than a few hours wondering what it would be like to kiss Sakura’s lips.

Those glorious eyes of hers dipped to his lips too and for a second he could have sworn she was having the exact same thought as he was.

That was …

‘Stop eye-fucking and come help me with this damn suitcase!’ Ino’s loud voice pulled both of them out of the spell and they blushed furiously.

‘We’re not eye-fucking Pig!’ Sakura all but screeched. ‘Maybe if you listened to me about packing for a _weekend_ not a week you wouldn’t be having so much trouble.’

The blonde just stuck her tongue out at them and pointed at her suitcase. ‘Don’t care. I promised not to tell Shika about your little plan for the wedding. And you agreed you’d help me with anything asked for. Now you, lover boy.’ Ino pointed at Naruto and then the suitcase at her feet and then at the car. ‘Put that in there.’

Well that meant they were definitely doing it then. That … filled him with all kinds of emotions he couldn’t pin down right now. Not when Sakura was frowning at Ino and glancing apologetically at him. And Ino was just watching him with the same expression she used to wear any time she’d caught Naruto and Sakura being just a bit too close to one another.

Badly hidden, and supersonic bright, glee.

Well, that was just gonna make this whole weekend just that little bit tougher.

‘Chop chop, or maybe I won’t remember it’s meant to be a secret prank.’ Ino smiled, a megawatt bulb hidden behind her white teeth. ‘Besides you know Sakura wants to watch that muscled body work.’

Sakura blushed scarlet and gave him a beseeching look. And didn’t seem to realise she was smiling sheepishly.

Well that did all kinds of things to him and a certain part of his anatomy approved of her not so subtle glance at not-his-face.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

‘Get in the damn car Pig,’ Sakura said quickly when she caught herself.

‘Yeah, yeah, just don’t spend forever looking into each other’s eyes now you’re at least taking the right steps towards the obvious. We want to get to the venue ASAP right? Toodles.’

Naruto shut the trunk door with a hearty slam and Ino merely winked at him as she slid into the open passenger door, closing it behind her.

‘Sorry Naruto,’ Sakura muttered as she shot death glares at Ino, who was merrily chatting with Shikamaru in the backseat. ‘She’s been like that since last night. Just be glad she’s sober now. Agreeing to help her with anything she asked was literally the only way to make her promise not to blab. She whined like a child this morning about being unable to tell anyone else.’

Naruto sighed and patted Sakura on the shoulder gently. ‘It’s fine. We knew she’d be a pain in the ass about it. Hopefully once we get to the house it’ll distract her from tormenting us and we can have a nice weekend.’

Sakura smiled absently and bumped her arm against him. ‘Still on for our platonic date then?’

That hope in her eyes. It was so familiar …

Dancing all night in a night club familiar.

‘Yeah,’ he said softly, a smile slipping across his face. ‘It’ll be fun.’

Sakura didn’t say anything, only reached out to stroke his arm before walking up to the car.

He did his best to keep his eyes in respectful places as she walked away from him.

The sway of her hips made him fail in the best way though.

A small, hopeful and quiet part of him was throwing more and more doubts at how platonic their date actually was with every step Sakura took.

It slam dunked its doubts on the word when Sakura paused at the car door and bit her lip before slipping into the car with a smirk.

He blushed scarlet and blew out a long breath.

She knew he’d been staring, and apparently she hadn’t minded in the slightest.

‘Platonic,’ he muttered to himself. ‘Sure.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ... I am not gonna get this whole thing out within April. I'm just not. It's also not gonna stick to eight chapters so ... yeah it's gonna take longer but it'll BE longer too ...
> 
> Hope that makes up for it and that you're still enjoying yourself.


	5. Wish

‘Oh wow,’ Ino gasped as they rolled up the expansive lawn of the comically misnamed Deer Cottage. Given how what had used to be an old hunting lodge was now a multileveled mansion that was on the edge of the Nara Forest. ‘I always forget how gorgeous this place is Shika.’

The lazy man, smiling lightly, peered forward through the front seats and laughed. ‘Yeah, it’s a nice hotel. And given how we let them build on the edge of the family forest … they don’t charge us to stay here. Lucky Temari fell in love with it the first time we stayed here.’

Naruto chuckled. ‘Yeah luck. It had nothing to do with the giant forest that she could lose days in after growing up in a city by a desert.’

Sakura flicked him in the ear and Naruto chuckled again. ‘Don’t listen to him Shikamaru, I think it’s a really romantic place for a wedding.’

The lazy man waved absently as he stared fondly out the passenger window. ‘It’s fine, I’m just hoping we got here before the parents. My mother is going to be such a drag about the decorations and I haven’t got the energy to get between her and Temari’s dad if he’s here too.’

Naruto shared a look with Sakura, they’d barely spent much time in Rasa Subaku’s company but they knew enough about the mayor of Suna through his kids that … well Naruto was just glad he didn’t have to deal with the jackass often.

Hopefully he wouldn’t be around until the day of the actual wedding. Shikamaru and Temari had only wanted the wedding party to be around before and while Rasa was the father of the bride … well there was a reason Temari’s brother Kankuro was walking her down the aisle.

Weddings man, they could be all kinds of problematic. And with Yoshino Nara and Rasa Subaku being major parts of this one … this wedding was going to need a lot of alcohol. And possibly Naruto having to be Detective Uzumaki more than once this weekend.

But those were only possibilities and right now Naruto preferred to take in the facts.

Like the carefully mown lawns that looked picturesque in the early afternoon sunlight shining welcomingly over the hills that led down to the edge of Shikamaru’s family’s forest, the carefully managed treeline blocked with tall deer fences.

There’d been more than one drunken escapade when they were in high school that had proven the need of the fences to be that tall.

The deer in that forest did _not_ care for drunk kids running around their home like it was a playground.

They’d probably disapprove of a bunch of drunk twenty-somethings doing the same thing even more but with it being a wedding weekend and there being a well-stocked bar on the premises …

‘Well hopefully everyone will be on their best behaviour and your mom and father-in-law will remember it’s not about them?’ Sakura chipped in as she leant round the front seat. ‘I mean, it’s your and Temari’s weekend not theirs right?’

Shikamaru shrugged and reclined back into his usual half-lain over position. ‘We can but hope. If it’s too stressful, maybe Temari will let me smoke.’

‘Shikamaru …’ Ino and Sakura said in unison, a long disapproving whine that only came from medical professionals.

The black haired man just waved his hands at them dismissively and Naruto was saved from being dragged into the argument by them pulling up on the gravel path that led up to the manor house.

Which was lucky, because Naruto knew Chouji had gotten in some nice cigars for all the men to smoke the night before the wedding. Not to mention the pack Naruto had picked up before they’d gone to get the girls this morning.

Sakura had flat out insisted he quit smoking when she’d found out he’d started, it had been scary and he’d instantly regretted every cigarette he’d ever had. If she asked him if he had any cigarettes on him for Shikamaru … he didn’t think he could lie convincingly to her right now.

And Shikamaru wasn’t the only one who needed a smoke.

He didn’t know why but since yesterday morning, he’d had an especially difficult time trying to focus on anything, other than the countless times he and Sakura had almost hooked up over the years. And how those times had happened when they weren’t on a platonic date. Which they were now on for essentially the whole weekend.

The fact that every time he even thought of the word platonic he was reminded of Sakura’s swaying hips wasn’t helping either. This weekend was gonna be … he didn’t know but it was going to be whatever it was.

And he was equal parts curious and terrified to find out what. So yeah, he might be sneaking off later to find somewhere to smoke where Sakura wouldn’t find him.

Naruto parked up, already eyeing up places he could sneak off to, and the second the engine was off the four of them poured out of the car.

‘Do you wanna go inside and get checked in Shika?’ Naruto said as they approached the trunk. ‘I’m sure the girls can bring in your suitcase?’

Shikamaru shook his head and grimaced. ‘Not particularly, the longer I’m out here the less time I have to spend with my mother breathing down my neck.’

‘She’s not that bad Shikamaru,’ Ino said with a huff. Taking the handle of her suitcase from Naruto with a smile. ‘Besides, the quicker you get inside the quicker you get to see Temari again too.’

A small smile peeked onto the grumpy man’s face and he took his suitcase from Naruto with a smile. ‘Fine, fine.’

Naruto and Sakura smiled at each other. ‘Think that might be the happiest I’ve seen him all week,’ Naruto said once Ino and Shikamaru were out of earshot.

‘He’s missed Temari, even his usual grumpy self can’t pretend he hasn’t.’ Sakura leant against the Jeep and smiled. Watching their friends walk up the picturesque staircase chatting away. ‘I can relate.’

‘Oh?’ Naruto asked as he pulled out her suitcase and turned it so the extendable handle was upright towards Sakura’s hand.

‘Yeah,’ she turned and smiled at him fondly. ‘I’m apparently really bitchy when I’ve not seen you for a couple days.’

Naruto blushed, scratching the back of his neck to hide just how happy that made him. The rush of joy that had fizzed up in him like an opened bottle of Coke after it had been shaken up.

Because he’d been told something like that when he hadn’t seen Sakura for a couple days too. There’d been a case when he’d just made detective that had meant he couldn’t see Sakura all week. Shikamaru had made more than a couple digs at how shitty he was to be around during that period.

‘I know what you mean,’ Naruto said, trying desperately not to trip over his words. ‘Shikamaru’s said something similar about me.’

Their hands brushed as she reached out for her suitcase as he finally pulled away from it and life itself shocked up from his fingers to the back of his brain.

‘When’d he say that?’ Sakura asked, her own cheeks a little pink as their fingers stayed touching.

‘During one of my first cases as detective. He saw me around work and apparently I was miserable and snappy each time. It was the one …’ Naruto started.

‘Where we couldn’t talk all week because you were either working the case or sleeping, yeah. You wouldn’t rest until you solved that murder.’ Sakura finished with a frown. Like it had happened yesterday and not a year ago. ‘It sucked so hard I more or less moved into your apartment for a month after that.’

He remembered that, it had been lovely. Sakura had been there most nights when he’d got home and when she hadn’t been, she’d normally left him some food in the fridge. And the days where they’d both been off and just hung around the apartment and made the whole place feel more like a home. It had been like living with a … well. It had been nice.

They shared a smile, looking down at their linked fingers, which he hadn’t realised had wrapped around each other and their hands came apart. A pair of bashful smiles flitted between them as Naruto cleared his throat and lifted his own suitcase out onto the gravel.

‘You remembered that huh?’ Naruto shut the trunk a little too exuberantly, the clunk of the latch making them both wince.

‘Course,’ Sakura said, her cheeks getting pinker. ‘I missed you so much, it was awful.’

‘Well good thing we don’t go more than a day or two without seeing each other anymore,’ Naruto said, locking his car with a push on the key fob. ‘I think we’d probably feed the rumour that we’re secretly a couple even more if we let them see how much we hate being apart again.’

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said with a bit of an awkward laugh. She pulled on her suitcase and fell in step with him. ‘They’re going to be bad enough this weekend as is, let’s not let them know we nearly considered moving in together for real then.’

His mom still bemoaned that they hadn’t, but Naruto didn’t tell Sakura that. She’d already been rather pointed about how good looking her grandbabies would be with Sakura as their mother.

He also didn’t tell Sakura that he one hundred percent agreed with her.

They walked up the steps to the lodge, which was just as impressive up close as it was from a distance, in comfortable silence. Once they’d gotten inside Naruto was struck by how rustic and homey the entrance hall to the hotel was.

It always was of course, it just never failed to get him. The familiar long oak front desk, the same two men, Izumo and Kotetsu, manning it as always. Naruto didn’t know their surnames but the amount of time they’d spent here in the summers during school … well he didn’t feel the need to ask anymore.

There was an open checking in book to one side of the large desk by a stand for pamphlets on local attractions and a list of events happening at the hotel during the week.

The stained wood floor was so well cared for you’d never think the wood had been harvested from the very forest it was on the border of. The darkness of the panelled walls giving the room a feel of being part of an old stately home added to the whole effect and Naruto almost forgot they were only an hour or two away from the hustle and bustle of Konoha City proper.

Ino and Shikamaru were nowhere to be found in the lobby so Naruto guessed they’d got checked in and gone up to find their significant others. Sai was apparently already here going over some artwork he’d designed for the reception. Ino had whined about it a couple of times on the way up here.

‘Ah,’ one of the men behind the desk said as he spotted them. ‘There you guys are, good, your room is being prepared for you. We had to do some quick minute moving around but it’s okay. We’re sorry for the delay guys, but we figured you wouldn’t mind given how all the rooms are being taken by the wedding guests. If you leave your suitcases here, we can move them up there for you when it’s ready.’

‘That’s fine guys,’ Sakura said, placing both of their suitcases neatly by the desk, next to the growing collection of luggage. ‘Have we really got the whole hotel? I know you’ve not got that many rooms but seriously?’

‘Mhmm, it’s why we’ve got a book especially for you to tick off when you arrive.’ Kotetsu smiled as he gestured at the book, names all neatly handwritten. Naruto wondered who’d written them in, the handwriting was way too neat for what he’d expect from either man.

‘Yeah, Mrs Nara booked out the whole hotel weeks ago. So just tick yourselves off and you can go to the bar. I think that’s where the rest of your friends are. Please try to keep dog boy out of the forest this time yeah?’

Naruto and Sakura laughed and moved over to the book.

‘You know we can’t promise that right? Just be thankful he’s stopped bringing Akamaru everywhere with him,’ Sakura said conversationally. ‘Are you guys coming to the wedding?’

‘Nah, we’ll be at the reception though. We’ve known you kids for so long now, we’d have shown up even if we hadn’t been invited.’ The two men smirked to each other and Kotetsu pointed at the pair of them. ‘And we’re seriously glad you two pulled your heads out of your asses. We were rooting for you.’

‘Guys,’ Naruto said with a sigh, trailing his finger down the list of the book. People sharing rooms, like the couples and family were grouped together. Kiba and Hinata, Gaara and Kankuro, Neji and Tenten, but he couldn’t seem to find his name. ‘Not you too, come on.’

‘If you’d just gotten together earlier you wouldn’t have to put up with so much teasing,’ Izumo said idly. ‘Ah here we go, got your room.’

Naruto paused as his finger finally found his name.

‘Wait,’ Sakura said confusedly. ‘Room?’

‘Yeah?’ Izumo replied with a raised eyebrow. ‘Room three on the fourth floor.’

‘Ooo that’s a nice one,’ Kotetsu said with a grin. ‘You guys are lucky.’

‘Hold on,’ Sakura said frowning. She leant over the desk to peer at the computer. ‘Why do you guys keeping saying room? Is it one big suite or something? Cus we definitely put ourselves down for separate rooms …’

‘Um guys?’ Naruto said as he looked up from the book. His finger still poked into the page where it had stopped. ‘You sure this book is right?’

The two men looked as equally confused as they must do and Kotetsu nodded slowly. ‘Yeah … why?’

‘Then why are Sakura and me put down in the same room?’ Naruto tapped the book. Stabbed it more like.

‘We’re what?!’ Sakura said quickly. Nudging Naruto out of the way to look at the book. ‘The hell?’

The two men stared at them, completely bamboozled and Kotetsu scratched his chin idly. ‘Well yeah? You guys are together now right? Sakura called up to change your two rooms into one this morning. It’s why your room isn’t ready yet, we had to move some stuff around. It worked out quite well actually, there were some people who had been forced to share who now don’t have to.’

‘But I didn’t call you this morning …’ Sakura said hotly, looking from Naruto to Kotetsu and Izumo, confusion abound. ‘And we aren’t a couple …’

What the hell? He’d definitely booked his own room. He’d rung up weeks ago.

And Naruto knew Sakura hadn’t done this. They’d only decided to even go as each other’s platonic date yesterday morning and even then … Sakura and Naruto never got a room together unless it was a twin room and they had their own beds.

Which this hotel didn’t have. And unless the hotel suddenly had some spare beds knocking around they weren’t about to make this apparently shared room into a twin room.

He didn’t think Sakura would have done this, hell he knew she wouldn’t even if the roasting glare she was giving the other two men hadn’t given it away.

But he knew who would. Fucking hell, he knew exactly who would and he knew who could do a pretty spot on Sakura impression. And only one other person knew they were going as each other’s date.

He was gonna kill her.

‘Sakura,’ Naruto said slowly. ‘Was there any point today when Ino was out of earshot?’

Sakura froze, he could feel the anger build and thrum out of her as she growled out: ‘Yes.’

‘Son of a bitch,’ Naruto snarled.

Kotetsu glanced between the two of them and his face went ashen. ‘Wait … you guys aren’t? You didn’t? Oh shit. Guys I’m so sorry I just thought …’

He pointed between the two of them, his hand going to his mouth as he slumped down into his waiting chair.

‘We haven’t got any spare rooms either have we?’ he asked Izumo who was already running through the listed rooms. Izumo had moved the screen so they could all see.

‘It’s fine,’ Sakura said evenly, she turned to Naruto with a frown. ‘It’s not their fault, right Naruto?’

No, it wasn’t. It was Ino’s and as much as he’d normally just suck it up and share a room with Sakura, hell they’d shared beds before it wasn’t the end of the world. It had been fine.

This weekend was different though.

He’d called her Sakura-chan, they still hadn’t talked about that. And his complicated feelings for her had come back to the front of his mind ever since and he really, really couldn’t stop noticing how jaw-droppingly gorgeous Sakura was. Even right now, when she was white hot with rage, she was sexy as hell.

Share a bed with her all weekend? With alcohol thrown in?

Well he guessed Ino had finally had enough and acted on her threat.

He and Sakura were gonna be locked in a room together and if the blonde’s plan worked as she hoped …

‘I’m gonna kill her,’ Sakura murmured under her breath as she signed her name into the book and handed Naruto the pen, he face red from anger. ‘Sorry for this Naruto. She’s crossed a line. I shouldn’t have told her about the plan.’

She had though and it had the potential to ruin the whole weekend for both of them. But … what if this was just another opportunity. Like the one on his birthday all those years ago.

Yeah, Ino had forced the situation. Yeah, he wasn’t happy with her at all but … but it could be salvaged right?

‘Well, I mean, I could always just sleep on the sofa in the room? These rooms still have sofas in them right?’ He turned to Kotetsu who was desperately looking at Izumo. Who was just shaking his head and not meeting Naruto and Sakura’s gaze. ‘Fuck.’

Ino was certainly hoping they would.

‘We’ll deal,’ Naruto said to Sakura quickly. Her fist tightening around the pencil until it nearly snapped. ‘She wants a reaction, let’s not give her one okay?’ he said quietly, wrapping his hand around Sakura’s.

He watched her temper soothe quickly, her cheeks were still red though.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said quietly, her grip on the pencil loosening from splintering intensity. ‘Yeah, we’re adults and we can deal with it. Not like we’ve not shared a bed before.’

And wasn’t that a glorious memory lane to walk down. His brain adding all the new, much steamier locations they could add to that lane this weekend.

‘Exactly,’ Naruto said, smiling reassuringly. ‘Her prank doesn’t have to change what we wanted out of this weekend. We’ll have fun and not give her the satisfaction of knowing she riled us.’

‘Then when the weekend is over … we kill Ino?’ Sakura said hopefully.

‘I know a brilliant place to bury her body,’ Naruto whispered and squeezed her fingers.

‘Okay.’ Sakura smiled and passed him the pencil. ‘Sign in.’

And with that, after another apology from Kotetsu and Izumo, Sakura left him at the desk and made her way towards the bar.

Which was good, because as Naruto was leaning down to sign his own name he was bombarded with all the possibilities of the weekend now he and Sakura were going to be sharing a room … and a bed.

The good possibilities, the catastrophic ones and … as much as he tried to ignore his perverted brain … the very, very raunchy ones.

God give him strength, he wasn’t sure if by the end of the weekend if he was going to be killing Ino or thanking her.

‘Naruto,’ Kotetsu said apprehensively. ‘We really are sorry man.’

He smiled at them and waved dismissively. ‘It happens. Don’t be sorry.’

Because despite Naruto’s reservations he was shocked to realise …

He wasn’t.

* * *

Ino Yamanaka was a dead woman.

She was. Ino was a dead woman. Because Sakura was going to fucking kill her.

‘Okay,’ Sakura muttered to herself as she waited just round the corner from the bar. ‘Okay, I’m gonna kill her. That’s what’s gonna happen. After the wedding. Get through the wedding, have the platonic date with Naruto, see where that goes and regardless of the result … kill Ino.’

Because even if the furthest, desperate, most wanted result of this whole platonic date happened … well Naruto being her new boyfriend would just make him more inclined to help her hide Ino’s body.

But first, Shikamaru and Temari’s big weekend. That came first before anything else. She wasn’t going to make a scene and take any of the focus off the couple on _their_ weekend.

She was a better friend than that. So she could wait to murder Ino by the time the new Mr and Mrs Nara were on their honeymoon.

She drew herself back up, taking a deep breath and, after patting away imaginary dust from her jeans, Sakura strolled into the bar to cheers and greetings from her friends that had already gathered.

They were sat in their couples mostly. Hinata and Kiba, the lavender haired woman wrapped up in Kiba’s arm, beaming happily. Her hands settled around her growing baby bump. Neji and Tenten sat on Hinata’s other side, on the receiving end of an energetic conversation with Lee, who was so loud Sakura could hear him from the doorway. The couple were wincing from the volume and desperately trying to quiet the exuberant man.

Shino was on Kiba’s other side, having a polite conversation with Sai as Ino leant into her boyfriend’s side. The pale man dressed in his customary dark clothes, he looked every bit the stereotypical artist he was, and would be the most hipster looking man in the room if Shino wasn’t still wearing his sunglasses inside. Chouji and Karui were next, chatting with Shikamaru about something that was firing up Chouji’s much less laid back wife.

It sapped away some of Sakura’s anger to see most of her friends gathered in one place. It was hard to stay angry in front of all this happy and when Temari’s eyes lit up, the sandy blonde already halfway across the floor to meet her, Sakura’s anger all but dissipated.

‘Sakura!’ Temari beamed as she wrapped the shorter woman in a strong hug. ‘I’m so glad you made it! Let’s get you a drink! Where’s Naruto?’

She tried not to bristle at that. Temari didn’t know about Ino’s prank. And it wasn’t like everyone here didn’t know Naruto had been her lift to the lodge.

‘He’s just at the desk, there was a mix up with our rooms.’ Sakura did her best not to shoot a dirty look at Ino, who was doing a terrible job at hiding her shit eating grin in Sai’s shoulder. ‘Apparently when we booked our rooms they thought we were doubling up.’

The sandy haired woman nodded and gestured at the barwoman to come over. Sakura placed her drink order and sighed.

‘I saw that yeah,’ Temari said simply, not looking back over at their group of friends. ‘Should I read too much into that or is someone playing a prank?’

Sakura grumbled into her drink as it was placed in front of her and also kept looking forward.

‘Ino?’ Temari whispered just as the uproar of noise went up again with Naruto’s name this time. He waved over at Sakura when she turned instinctively and he smiled when she motioned at the bar.

Temari’s amused eyes were on her when Sakura turned back and ordered Naruto’s pint.

‘Do you want me to get your rooms changed back?’ the Suna native whispered. ‘I could just make a stink as the bride?’

She shook her head. ‘No, it’s too much hassle for the staff and besides …’

Naruto was grinning and shaking hands with each of the men round the table, laughing at something Kiba said and flipping him off at the same time.

‘And you’re not entirely against the idea huh?’ Temari finished knowingly as she followed Sakura’s gaze. ‘You’re not gonna upstage me on my wedding weekend with finally getting with him are you?’

‘No!’ Sakura gasped, nearly dropping her drink as Temari laughed good-naturedly. ‘I wouldn’t – Temari we’re not –’

Temari laughed some more and took the offered cloth from the surprisingly diligent barwoman. ‘Relax Sakura, if my wedding is what finally tips you two into each other’s arms, I’m more than okay with that. Besides, I’ll win the pool.’

‘That’s still going?’ Sakura grumbled as she sipped down more of her wine.

She’d first learned about the pool their friends had about when she and Naruto would get together on the first night the girls had taken Temari out on the town.

It had been running since school apparently. It had started with everyone but her and Naruto knowing about it. She wasn’t sure if Sasuke had been involved but knowing how little her douche ex had liked any of her friends she doubted it.

He’d never really clicked with the rest of the Konoha Eleven as they jokingly referred to themselves in the group chat on WhatsApp.

It apparently hadn’t gone away even when Sakura had started dating Sasuke and Naruto dated Hinata. It had just shrunk down to Ino and Tenten. Everyone else either didn’t care, took the fact that there were both in relationships as reason to call time on the idea or were too invested in other things.

Then Naruto and Sakura were single again and the pool had sprung back to life. And everyone had come back to it. Even Hinata eventually apparently.

And by the time university had rolled round and Temari had started appearing on their nights out, she’d been added to it too.

‘Course, one might even suggest that knowing my slot was coming up, I chose this exact weekend, with this romantic venue that is so dear to both of you and thought … yes, this will be my wedding weekend.’ Temari smirked as Sakura gave her a dirty look that reluctantly morphed into a smile. ‘Or it was all coincidence and I’m just lucky.’

Temari’s gaze moved over to Shikamaru and she smiled fondly at her husband-to-be as she said the word lucky. It was very sweet.

Sakura smiled and not for the first time, she wondered what it would be like to have a relationship like that. Where just the sight of the one you love enjoying himself would make you look as at peace as Temari did now.

And why whenever she started to think like that her gaze always turned towards Naruto.

Ugh, she needed alcohol.

The barwoman brought over Naruto’s beer and went back to cleaning glasses.

‘Seriously though Sakura,’ Temari said, her tone kept low. Her eyes piercing Sakura where she stood. ‘If something were to happen between you two this weekend … I wouldn’t feel upstaged. Do you understand?’

Sakura blushed but didn’t have time to answer her friend’s question as Naruto, perfect timing as always, bounded up to the bar to hug Temari in his usual enthusiastic fashion.

‘Hiya Temari!’ he said happily as the tall woman hugged him back. ‘How are you doing? All excited for the big day?’

Temari chuckled. ‘I’m wonderful thank you Naruto, how was living with Shikamaru for the last week? I got some interesting phone calls off him over the past couple days. I trust he wasn’t that bad?’

Naruto’s grin shrunk slightly but it didn’t go entirely, only got more surreptitious. It was kinda hot?

She’d always quite liked the coyer side of him, it didn’t show up very often and it always gave hints to the more devious side of his personality and Sakura had always had a bit of a thing for bad boys … especially bad boys who actually weren’t bad boys and had abs like _that_.

…

Look … she was still reeling over sharing a bed with the man all weekend. Give her a break.

‘I have no idea what you mean,’ Naruto said with a completely straight face this time. Which was not stopping the hotness of him. Inconsiderate hunk. ‘I’m totally only excited for the wedding weekend because it’s gonna be a great time. Not because he’ll be out of my apartment again and I don’t have to clean up after him like I’m his mother.’

Temari let out a bark of a laugh and handed Naruto his beer. ‘Understood, thank you for keeping him alive. Your beers are on me okay?’

‘Isn’t it an open bar?’ Naruto asked with that stupid sexy smirk.

‘Ah,’ the sandy blonde replied, tipping her own drink at him. ‘Then it’s all on my father. Drink as much as you want.’

The three of them laughed and they clinked their drinks together.

‘So … where’s Gaara?’ Naruto asked, glancing around the room. ‘I saw he’d checked in but …’

Temari snorted. ‘What? Are we not enough?’ The tall woman gestured … mostly at Sakura, making the pinkette blush into her emptying wine glass as Naruto’s eyes ran the entire length of her in that warm and loving way he did. Annoying babe. ‘Honestly, you’re as bad as each other. The first thing he did was ask when you were getting here.’

Naruto looked completely nonplussed as he waited expectantly.

It was cute. He was cute. Everything he did was cute.

She needed more wine.

Temari rolled her eyes. ‘He’s in his room sleeping, you know what he’s like for insomnia, he said to let you know he’d be down in time for the guys’ activities later.’ Temari turned to Sakura in an exasperated huff. ‘I did remind him it was _Shikamaru’s_ wedding activities he was invited to but he just stared at me for a long second and said: Just tell Naruto.’

Sakura giggled at the spot on impression Temari did on her brother, Naruto cracking a smile that again was very cute.

To be honest, the way Naruto was with Gaara was so endearing. Gaara had never had any friends as a kid, he’d been bullied something terrible all throughout school apparently. Which she’d never really understood.

She’d met him when he’d come to visit Temari at Konoha U. He was quiet, polite and a little weird but well … most of her friends could be a little weird. So she’d always been friendly to him even if she wasn’t sure it was totally returned she got the impression he liked her too.

Naruto though, as was his freaking want, recognised someone in need of a friend and glomped onto him the second he met him. Naruto had shown Gaara the best places in Konoha to hang out, gotten the poor boy exceedingly drunk and opened up a whole new side to Gaara that Sakura didn’t think anyone else could have gotten to.

Even Temari and Kankuro had been astounded at the new side to their little brother. They’d apparently barely ever heard him laugh and it seemed to be all he did when he was around Naruto.

And that closeness persisted ever since. Once Naruto became a cop, Gaara would request him to be his escort if he ever had to visit Konoha in an official capacity. And those were most of the times she and Naruto had wound up in some of the ritzier places around Konoha. Because even Gaara knew Naruto would invite her anywhere he went if he could.

She did try to give them just guy time as much as possible though and had lied more than once to make sure Naruto and Gaara got to hang out just the two of them. Something she knew Gaara greatly appreciated. She’d even gotten a hug once or twice because of it and the only person she’d ever seen Gaara actively hug himself was Naruto.

Besides, she always heard about everything the two of them got up to when Naruto told her all about it. It was like they were a couple of little kids who’d made a new best friend at school and wanted to tell everyone about it.

Watching them hang out and just be wholesome best friends was enough to make her melt with the cuteness of it all. And she really couldn’t tell you how big the difference between Gaara with Naruto and without him was. You had to see it. She’d never seen so much joy in a man’s face than when Gaara and Naruto got to see each other after a long separation.

And now there was going to be a whole weekend of Gaara and Naruto hanging out and being adorable.

How was she going to survive sharing a room with Naruto with all that cuteness around? Let alone share a bed with the gorgeous blond.

She was doomed.

‘Okie doke,’ Naruto said with a simple smile and another pull on his beer. ‘Guess that’ll be just in time for when you guys go for your girly day at the spa?’

That was right! Sakura had forgotten all about the spa day. That was going to be amazing. Honestly, she needed it even more after the past couple days. It would probably be the only way she’d get through this weekend without ruining her friendship with Naruto by mounting him.

Had she mentioned how horny the stupid man was making her? The way he breathed honestly!

‘Mhmm,’ Temari said, draining her wine glass. ‘We’re just letting everyone get settled and unpacked and then we’ll be heading down to the spa until tonight’s meal. Speaking of which … Sakura do you need to go get your stuff out of your suitcase or did they say your room would be ready in time?’

The blonde turned to look at Naruto and he frowned a little. ‘Yeah, Kotetsu said they’d have our stuff up in our room ASAP. I actually think Izumo had got someone to run our stuff up already. Oh.’ He fished around in his pocket and produced an ornate looking silver key, holding it out to Sakura. ‘That’s your key, apparently the double rooms come with two keys.’

Sakura took the key and tried to not blush again. She was a grown woman, a doctor, she didn’t blush like a schoolgirl goddamn it.

‘Are you guys sure you don’t want me to make a big stink about that?’ Temari offered, though Sakura felt it was a little half-hearted and she loved and hated her for it in equal measure. ‘I’m pretty sure I could get them to. Or I could sic Yoshino on them?’

Naruto and Sakura winced in time and in that moment she knew they were both certain of one thing. They liked Kotetsu and Izumo too much to not just share a room … maybe a bed … rather than loose an irate Yoshino Nara on her son’s wedding weekend, on the two innocent men.

‘No,’ Naruto said quickly, smiling again. ‘Don’t worry about it Temari, we’ve shared beds before, I’m sure we’ll manage again. Right Sakura?’

He was smiling at her, all lovely warmth and kissable comfort … okay she didn’t know what that meant either but she was distracted by sharing a bed with him. Because no matter what either of them said … this time _was_ different.

She could feel the tension between her and Naruto and had been able to the entire drive up. She wasn’t sure if it was a bad tension or a good tension. But given how she’d caught his eyes drifting more than once and how he was getting flustered for the first time in a very long time by her flirting … when he’d stumbled over his words earlier she could have punched the air … there was something extra to this tension.

Maybe … maybe this time she wouldn’t chicken out on where the tension was pushing her? She could make up for not pushing just a little harder on his twenty-second birthday. Because that’s what this tension felt like. It might be years later and they were different from then … older, more settled in their friendship and maybe a little wiser … but that’s what it felt like.

They’d never talked about that night. The night where she’d definitely moved in for a kiss and he was coming towards her too and she’d thought, finally, finally they could see what would happen when they stopped circling each other and …

He’d pulled away. Firing a thousand questions through her head and leaving her aching for the reason why he’d done that. She’d lost days wondering about what could have been if she’d pressed him then and there. Or if he hadn’t pulled away.

The what ifs drove her crazy.

It was ridiculous to focus on that night though. They’d gotten drunk and kissed dozens of times since then. Even gotten a little handsy without really thinking about it and broken down in giggles and talked it through.

Always deciding it was just because they were drunk and single and both objectively attracted to each other. Of course they’d get a little carried away but they were just friends and they’d move past it and they wouldn’t talk about that sort of stuff until it happened again. The circle would continue on and on.

But that didn’t stop the questions from piling up for her. The questions she had to try and answer alone. Because if she let him in on those questions it could throw their whole equilibrium out of whack and then … what would she do if her new normal involved a ruined friendship with Naruto or even worse … no Naruto?

And the any time she talked to any of the girls about it … she’d be egged on just to make a damn move. The extremes of going to the nearest liquor store and stripping down to her underwear to surprise Naruto at his apartment not … the only suggestions her drunk friends had advised.

Hell the only person who seemed to offer anything other than a raunchy suggestion to Sakura confessing how she felt to Naruto was Temari. Even Hinata had offered up the suggestion that she just jump the man.

But Ino really was the worst for it. And she really was a bitch for goading her on. She’d never let her know just how close she was to convincing Sakura to just fucking do it. To dare to try for him. Just to know. So she could stop calling her reflection a freaking coward any time her feelings for Naruto resurfaced.

Like right now.

_Sakura-chan_.

Maybe this time …

‘Right,’ Sakura said with a smile of her own. ‘Besides, it could be worse, at least he doesn’t snore.’

The three of them laughed and after grabbing fresh drinks they moved over to the big table their friends had congregated around.

Sakura slipping into the seat next to Naruto and trying her best to not catch Ino’s eye as she and Naruto joined a conversation about Shino’s latest weird experience in his lab.

Because if she let herself look at Ino properly … the arrogant blonde would know that Sakura had made a possibly fateful decision. And it would make the other woman so smug Sakura would have to back down on principle.

So, at some point this weekend … she was going to make a move on Naruto.

Because that tension really was way too familiar and that extra level on top of it told her that if she didn’t go for it this weekend she might never get another chance. She’d never know what could be between her and Naruto.

And that, she had to admit, with all the things stacked up to give her a clean shot at him … was worse than anything she could think of.

So she’d try, and she’d take whatever happened. Because at least then she could tell herself she _tried_.

God help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I'm doing that trope. Cus I can. No, I'm not sorry.
> 
> You're welcome lol.


	6. Desire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right ... so ... you guys know how time is meaningless and we're kinda in that place where yesterday was March, today is a thing and tomorrow is who the fuck knows?
> 
> Yeah, your boy TUI fell into that and I forgot how long it had been since I updated. So when I finally remembered that time was in fact a thing I felt immensely badly for leaving you all in the lurch and ... well happy thirteen thousand word chapter gang, see you at the other end.
> 
> Oh! And I'm giving out cookies to anyone who picks out the character cameos in this chapter lol.

Naruto stared at his mostly full pint and tapped his fingers on the table.

He’d been the first one back in the bar after everyone had gone to their rooms to prepare for the remainder of the day. The girls were all going to the onsite spa to get some pampering and just have some girly time, and the men were … well basically gonna drink, play poker, make fun of each other and probably wind up in the pool.

Guy stuff basically.

Shikamaru and Temari’s bachelor/bachelorette parties had been weeks ago and this weekend was more about blowing off steam and preparing for the special day on Sunday. There was nothing crazy planned as far as Naruto knew.

They’d already had the stripper surprise at the bachelor party and Chouji wasn’t the type to pull that twice. Besides the woman he’d booked wasn’t going to be surpassed on memorability. How were you meant to top a stunning red haired woman who played the flute while stripping naked?

On a purely technical level that was just damn impressive, even more so than the rest of her if you asked Naruto. Though as he’d said, stunning.

He also knew Temari’s bachelorette party had had a couple strippers too. Ino was the maid of honour and she had been quite open about how Temari was gonna be in front of a lot of very attractive, very naked men. Sakura still wouldn’t tell him about it and blushed whenever it was brought up.

So yeah, this weekend would be a whole lot more chilled.

Which was good, Naruto thought as he stared some more at his beer. Because the last thing he needed was to be all riled up by seeing a gorgeous woman strip naked and then have to climb into bed with the _most_ beautiful woman in the world and _not_ come onto her.

Yes, he was beyond happy to be sharing a bed with her, any straight man with eyes would be, but he didn’t want to assume anything. Because his brain was already throwing enough assumptions about the pair of them sharing a bed and it was driving him crazy.

Mostly because he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He still hadn’t been to the room yet, the cases were already up there but he’d let Sakura go up first to get changed in privacy. He didn’t need to change anyway and even if they did wind up in the pool … well he could hop in the elevator and come back down with his swimsuit.

The idea of going into the room he’d be sharing with Sakura, with both of their luggage, was just too much to process right now. Yeah they’d done it before, yeah they’d even shared a bed before but there was definitely, one hundred percent, something different about this time.

And at least a hundred things that could ruin any attempt at keeping their platonic date … well platonic.

Like what if he had a Sakura dream with her sleeping next to him? How was he meant to handle that in the shower when the shower they would _share_ was literally attached to their _shared_ bedroom? What if he got morning wood and Sakura woke up feeling that against her back cus they’d wound up spooning? Hell what if he wasn’t quick enough covering himself in the morning and she saw it?

The longer he sat there thinking the more things he came up with that could happen, until he was basically playing out one of his grandpa’s plotlines. And not his cheesy adventure work … the steamy erotica that his mother hadn’t let him know that that’s how Grandpa had made his money.

But while thinking about that stuff was making him have to shift in his seat while arguing it away as just natural attraction to an objectively beautiful woman … it was the less sexy stuff that was sending him into the a spiral.

The possibility of waking up snuggling Sakura, the domesticity of them getting dressed for their day together, ordering room service maybe and even just doing the things that people who typically shared a hotel room and bed would do together.

It worried him how happy the mere idea of it was making him. How _right_ those things sounded. Because even he knew that the stuff he was picturing was not something you’d do with a friend you were sharing a room with. No, curse his brain, they were the things you’d do with a girlfriend.

And the idea of him and Sakura being here as an actual couple, was even more wonderful to him than the idea of screwing her brains out.

Both were good, excellent even, but being her boyfriend … ughhh.

Platonic date, sure. Trust him to ruin the whole damn idea with his resurfacing feelings.

He took a levelling swallow of his beer. He was fantasising like when they were in school again. These feelings were just going to hurt him later, because if Sakura had wanted him to be her boyfriend, she’d have done something about it by now.

That was one of the things he’d always liked most about her. That when she wanted something she damn sure got it. So what if they’d been flirting more lately? That she’d been blushing more than ever? They did that shit for fun, they’d once even kissed just to mess with their friends when they knew they were watching.

And okay, more than kiss when they’d been drinking.

But that was irrelevant. If Sakura wanted him to be hers, he’d be hers already.

He needed to let these feelings and hopes go. He’d done it once, he could do it again. Hell he had practice this time. Naruto had no intention of making what could be an awkward situation worse for Sakura by actively mooning over her.

His feelings weren’t returned, and that was fine. It wasn’t Sakura’s fault that he was still nursing his teenaged crush despite his best efforts to get over it.

He drank more beer.

_What if he wasn’t the only one nursing a crush though?_

Naruto stomped on that traitorous thought. He didn’t need it, it wasn’t coming from him. He’d just had years of all of his friends insisting that Sakura liked him back. Of course it’d stick in his head and pop up sometimes.

 _Sure Naruto, whatever you say_.

He was saved from an argument with himself with the beaming face of his other best friend.

‘Naruto,’ Gaara said happily, well happily for Gaara, automatically earning a smile from Naruto. ‘How have you been? I saw on the news that your suspect got life. Congratulations. You’re staying for the whole weekend right?’

Naruto stood from his chair and hugged the shorter man, more like he took the impact of the auburn haired man colliding with his chest, but he laughed all the same.

‘Yeah, he’s going away for a very long time,’ Naruto said, realising he’d barely thought of Orochimaru Hebi’s court date since Sakura had come round the night after Naruto’s testimony. ‘Thanks for pulling some strings so we could get access to the witnesses in Suna by the way.’

Gaara shrugged and waved at the barmaid from earlier. ‘It was nothing, we couldn’t risk him being found not guilty because key evidence was being held behind jurisdictional preening.’

‘And it helps I’m friends with Suna’s youngest government representative ever huh?’ Naruto teased as the barmaid came over to take their drink orders.

Gaara smiled and ordered another pint for Naruto and one for himself and the barmaid span away after a friendly nod and smile … at Gaara specifically. Naruto chuckled and raised his eyebrows at the other man.

‘You noticed that right?’ Naruto whispered as he sipped at his older beer. ‘She’s totally checking you out from the bar.’

Gaara rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, I’m aware, she’s been doing that since I arrived from Suna.’

‘So you gonna abandon me tonight to chase some tail?’ Naruto goaded as the two men drank.

It earned Naruto a slightly icy glare and a shake of his head. ‘Are you really never going to stop teasing me about using that expression once?’

‘Never. We’ll be old men in nursing homes and I’ll still be making fun of you for it.’

‘Fine,’ Gaara snorted and eased back into his chair. ‘But no, I won’t be. But I suggest you leave the teasing there.’

‘Or what?’ Naruto asked with an easy smirk around his steadily emptying glass. Gaara was a bad influence he swore.

‘Or I will start making comments about how I noticed you and Sakura are sharing a room.’ Gaara’s tone was even, there was no obvious threat in there but his eyes man, the eyes promised pain. ‘And you lose the last friend you have who isn’t actively bothering you about dating her.’

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it again, raising a finger to point at Gaara, who was just staring at him expectantly. Naruto opened and closed his mouth a couple more times before sighing heavily. ‘Fine. That was low Gaara.’

He shrugged. ‘Don’t care. I’m assuming the room share wasn’t either of your choices?’

Which was Gaara for ‘who pranked you?’

‘Ino, looks like she’s finally making good on her threat to lock us in a room, and not let us out til we, well you know,’ Naruto grumbled, making rather indelicate hand gestures to get his point across.

It was easier talking to Gaara about this sort of thing than anyone else. His auburn haired friend knew not to push and having a friend who wasn’t actively trying to set him up with Sakura was a godsend.

‘Extreme I admit,’ Gaara said with an incline of his head. ‘But forgive me Naruto, the chemistry between the two of you is undeniable. Pour enough alcohol down each of your throats and lock you in a room … well.’

Naruto pulled a face at the other man. ‘I thought you weren’t trying to set us up.’

‘I’m not,’ Gaara said, draining his glass. ‘I’m stating facts. What you do with them is unimportant.’

‘Uh huh,’ Naruto said, shaking his head. ‘Whatever. How was your flight from Suna?’

The two men chatted lightly for another ten minutes as they waited for the rest of the guys to come down from their rooms to join them.

Gaara’s flight had been perfectly adequate apparently. They’d had to fly commercial because you couldn’t borrow government property just to attend your sister’s wedding apparently. But they’d gotten business class so he and Kankuro had had a nice enough time.

He’d had more questions about Naruto’s work. While Gaara never pushed Naruto on his relationship with Sakura, the same couldn’t be said for his insistence that Naruto consider moving into politics. Whether it was just so Gaara had someone he could stand to be around at the government buildings his work life was spent in, or whether he truly believed Naruto was best suited for government was unclear.

But it didn’t stop Gaara from insisting Naruto at least consider it every time they spoke.

And it was just between reason one hundred and six and one hundred and seven that Naruto was saved by a steady procession of the men of the wedding party showing up in the bar.

‘Who’s ready to get their drink on?!’ Kiba cheered, both arms thrust into the air as he swaggered in, in just a pair of swimming shorts. ‘Barmaid! A round of beers for all of us and keep them coming!’

Shikamaru rolled his eyes from his chair and waved the barmaid off, who was looking a touch annoyed, and winced apologetically at her. ‘Or we could just go to the pool and see if they’ve set up the table for us?’

‘Table?’ Naruto asked, looking from Shikamaru to Chouji. ‘Why’s there a table at the pool?’

‘For poker,’ Chouji said simply. ‘Not everyone wants to swim so I thought it’d be cool to have some options.’ Kiba went to speak and was silenced by Shino plastering his long hand over Kiba’s mouth. ‘Yes Kiba, there’s also beer pong.’

Kiba pumped his fist and grinned at Naruto who couldn’t help but return the enthusiasm. It was infectious. ‘And …’

‘And yes there will be forfeits for losers,’ Chouji said with a fond shake of his head. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll have an excuse to launch yourself into the water like you’re a feral animal.’

Kiba’s grin didn’t diminish an iota and Naruto suddenly wished he’d gone to the room to get his shorts. He felt a bit pathetic for not being able to face going to his room just cos Sakura was gonna be there.

‘Shall we get moving then?’ Neji asked as he readjusted a duffle bag on his shoulder.

‘Yosh!’ Lee shouted exuberantly, his bright green towel tucked under his arm. ‘I will win every game with the power of youth! This will be a mighty challenge! I’m going to swim fifty laps to warm up!’

They collectively rolled their eyes and gave each other incredulous looks as Lee shot off on his own towards the pool.

‘Or we could walk?’ Shikamaru offered to the chorus of acknowledging laughter. ‘Man, I like Lee but he’s exhausting. How do you put up with him?’

Neji shrugged and started walking away. ‘I have an energetic four year old at home, he tears around the house so fast he makes Lee look tame. Besides I can throw Lee in the pool if he starts bothering me without Tenten kicking my ass.’

Another commiserating shudder of laughter went across the men, especially the fathers, and they started making to move out of the bar.

‘I’ll have to catch up with you guys, left my swimsuit in the room,’ Naruto said, trying his best to make it sound like he was just forgetful and not chicken. ‘Forgot about the pool I guess.’

Most of the men just shook their heads or waved him off and Naruto almost got to skulk off and have a mini-breakdown about how stupid he was being undisturbed. Honestly, he’d been avoiding a room just because he was sharing it with Sakura? That was just stupid of him, resurfaced feelings or not.

The universe however decided it wasn’t done fucking with him through people who were meant to be his friends.

‘Oh, wait Naruto,’ Sai said blankly, fishing around a duffle bag he had. ‘You don’t need to.’

‘Er thanks,’ Naruto said awkwardly, glancing at his friends who had turned to see what was going on. ‘But not to be mean but I don’t think anything of yours will fit.’

‘I know,’ Sai said simply. He made a soft sound of success and pulled a bright orange towel and a pair of orange swimming shorts. _Naruto’s_ bright orange towel and swimming shorts. ‘Sakura gave these to me when I was leaving mine and Ino’s room. She said you’d forgotten and to give them to you. Oh and to tell you to have fun. Are you she’s not your girlfriend? She certainly acts like it.’

Naruto pointedly ignored the poorly covered laughing coming from the rest of the men as he quietly took the offending items off of Sai as kindly as he could manage. Which wasn’t very, he damn near snatched them out of the man’s hands.

‘ _Yes_. Thank you,’ he said through his teeth and walked stiffly towards the exit of the bar.

‘You know,’ Chouji started with a small smirk. ‘You’re a real lucky guy Naruto …’

‘Chouji, don’t you dare.’ Naruto said warningly.

‘What? I’m just saying, when I forget things I have to go get them myself.’ Chouji’s face never even flickered. But there was an ocean’s worth of amusement in his eyes. ‘But you? Pfft, I should have married Sakura instead. _Your_ wife is so much nicer than mine!’

‘Shove it fat man,’ Naruto hissed, his insult only making the chubby man laugh harder.

‘Savour it while you can Uzumaki,’ Kiba chimed in, nudging Naruto in the side with his elbow and grinning like some kind of stupid monkey. ‘The honeymoon period only lasts so long.’

‘I will kill you,’ Naruto snarled as they all moved out, jabbing his finger at Kiba’s chest. ‘And I know how to get away with it.’

His threat against Kiba was met with about as much respect as his insult at Chouji.

‘And make sure you get as much sex in as you can before the children come,’ Neji opined, totally deadpan. ‘Ever since Hideki was born, we’ve had to foist him on his grandparents if we want so much as a romantic meal.’

More laughter, this one again quite commiserating, and Naruto snarled. ‘Shouldn’t you be saying all this to Shikamaru? He’s the one getting married on Sunday!’

The men all shrugged and this time it was the usually quiet Shino’s turn to pipe up. ‘Yes, but Shikamaru won’t deny he’s married to _his_ wife.’

Naruto could have sworn the man’s sunglasses shone just as he was landing the punchline and everyone, even Gaara the traitor, chuckled as Naruto simmered.

‘I hate all of you.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Shikamaru said, slapping the blond on the back. ‘Stop bitching and come lose at poker.’

Naruto grumbled obscenities that his mother would wash his mouth out with soap for if she caught him all the way to the pool area.

* * *

Sakura hadn’t felt as relaxed as she did right now in days. Possibly weeks.

Which was a miracle given that the mere thought of her and Naruto sharing a bed for the whole weekend was stoking fires in her that she couldn’t even begin to put out. Not that she wanted to.

She’d all but kicked platonic out the goddamn window, but he didn’t know that yet and what if he _did_ reject her making it more than platonic and that turned the fire into ice and she started to …

But! But, she had just spent the last hour or so having a very nice massage and having a lovely full body exfoliating and she felt absolutely amazing and chill and Zen.

So as the six women left the group massage room, all fluffy white dressing gowns and well soothed muscles, Sakura felt like she could take on the world. And she continued to feel that way when they were lingering over where to go next.

‘Okay so,’ Ino started, pulling out the piece of program the manager of the spa had handed her before the first treatment. ‘We’ve done the exfoliating, the face masks and the massages, all we’ve got left are the saunas and then the manicures and the pedicures.’

‘Um about the sauna …?’ Hinata said sheepishly, gesturing at her belly and smiling. ‘Our doctor said it was strictly a no-go for me.’

‘Oh …’ Ino said, deflating slightly as her plan, which she’d been really good at organising truth be told.

Sakura had been a bit surprised that Temari hadn’t picked an old friend from Suna to be her Maid of Honour but then she’d remembered what the woman had said about how many friends she’d had growing up and it suddenly made sense.

Whether it was due to Rasa being snobby or just downright disruptive to his children’s happiness or just the insular way he kept his family in general, Temari, Kankuro and Gaara had only really had each other growing up.

And Ino was made to be a Maid of Honour. She’d thrown an amazing bachelorette party, Sakura didn’t remember most of it but she knew it was a good one because of photos. There had been one particular moment including lots of very attractive, very naked men, dancing around the group of women that had broken through Sakura’s drunken memories of that night though.

How many times did you see a man who had tattoos of tongues on his hands stripping down to his birthday suit after all?

‘Well we can skip the sauna right?’ Karui offered to the group, wrapping an arm around Ino and rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. ‘Just go straight to the pedicures and manicures?’

Ino gave Karui a slow Look, the look Sakura knew very well. She suspected something and she was trying to figure out what was being kept from her. Normally it was the look Sakura got after one of the many, many times she and Naruto had kissed on a night out while drunk.

Ino always ferreted the gossip out of her and proceeded to berate her for days after the fact. Longer even if the kissing had turned to something a little more handsy. The week after the _one_ time Naruto had squeezed her ass while they’d kissed had been never-ending with how Sakura should go return the favour, and how that proved Naruto was definitely after something more.

So yeah … seeing that look on Ino’s face and aimed at someone else, well it made her protective of that person. Not everyone could put up with Ino’s constant pestering after all.

But before she had the chance to save Karui from her fate, Hinata stepped in.

‘Temari?’ Hinata spoke up gently but firmly. They called it her Mom Voice. Much like Ino’s Look, Hinata had the Mom Voice down pat and always had. Ever since they were in school. ‘It’s your weekend, what would you like to do? It’s not fair that all the plans have to change on your weekend just because I got pregnant.’ Hinata smiled serenely as she touched her belly unconsciously. Which was just adorable and made Sakura want to happy cry.

The sandy haired woman chuckled. ‘Yeah, shame on you and Kiba, don’t you use protection at all?’

Hinata shrugged. ‘A lady never tells nor does she ask.’ She gave the other woman a sly look. Which coming from Hinata was always so jarring. She was meant to be the good girl, the butter wouldn’t melt girl. And normally she was.

But Sakura had seen Hinata dancing when she’d had a glass of wine too many, and had one or two conversations with her over said wine that proved that when it came to it … oh the butter hadn’t lasted seconds.

‘Well, I would _like_ to use the sauna, it’s so gorgeous,’ Temari said with a sigh, which was mirrored by all the women. The sauna really was amazing here. ‘But we’d only be in there for what? Thirty minutes including cooling off and showering time? Forty tops?’

‘About that yeah,’ Ino said, her previous gusto returned. ‘But we don’t want to leave you on your own for that long Hinata.’

‘I’ll keep her company,’ Karui said, just a little too quickly if you asked Sakura. Yeah, she was definitely hiding something. ‘That way the rest of you can still do the sauna, I’ve never been a massive fan of them anyway, always dry out my hair too much.’

‘That sounds lovely,’ Hinata said kindly. ‘Is that okay with you Temari?’

‘Sure, but what are you two going to do?’ Temari asked.

Hinata eyed Karui idly, still smiling. ‘Well, even pregnant ladies can have warm baths, and the little pool they have in the spa is heated yes?’

‘Yuh-huh,’ Ino said, flicking through the program.

‘Wonderful,’ Hinata said happily. ‘We’ll wait for you girls there. Come on Karui, let’s go.’

The two women smiled at the rest and wandered off in the general area of the heated pool.

The remaining women waited for them to be out of earshot before turning to each other and grinning.

‘So Karui’s pregnant right?’ Tenten asked with a smirk.

‘Definitely!’ Ino laughed with a shake of her head. ‘You should have seen her and Chouji recently, they’ve been trying to hide how happy they are. Failing miserably by the way.’

They started to make their way towards the sauna, laughing amongst themselves.

‘You’re telling me,’ Temari said with a snort. ‘Chouji might be worse than her, he flat out asked, totally hypothetically of course, if Shikamaru would be godfather of any _future_ children the two had. Boy can’t keep a secret to save his life.’

‘Oh God,’ Sakura giggled as they approached the showers stalls. ‘So you think Hinata knows?’

‘For sure, that warm pool thing?’ Ino started undoing her robe and pulled loose her hair so it shimmered down over her shoulders. ‘Karui’s definitely about to get some mommy advice. Surprised she didn’t ask you to go as well Ten.’

Tenten shrugged, her buns being undone and her brown hair falling to her neck. ‘Hinata has more kids and let’s be real, she’s far more approachable than I am. Who would you rather ask for mothering advice? Hell, I wish I’d had Hinata to ask when I was pregnant with Hideki.’

Sakura had to give Tenten that, but she still thought Tenten would have some good advice too, she’d seen the woman with her son and it was just as adorable as Hinata with the twins.

‘Okay then,’ Ino said, slapping her hands together. ‘Quick showers then we’re in the sauna, titties out.’

‘ _Ino_ …’ Sakura admonished with a slight blush.

‘What?’ Ino said innocently, though she was saying it from inside her stall so Sakura had no doubt the blonde was grinning her ass off. ‘It’s the best way to experience a sauna isn’t it Doctor?’

Sakura snorted. ‘Yeah but you don’t have to be so childish about it.’

Ino didn’t reply and neither Tenten nor Temari added anything but Sakura still blushed a little. She’d been a little uncomfortable with being topless in the sauna when they’d first gone in as a group.

She might have had some body issues as a teenager and while she’d mostly got rid of them now … through both Naruto’s gentlemanly encouragement and playful flirting and Ino’s outright stating that she looked amazing with her clothes off … she’d not grown out of them the first time they’d all gone in a sauna.

And Ino never failed to tease her about it, even now. She always made the same jokes whenever they did, even if it was just the two of them. The titties out one was first and the other would come when they were in the actual sauna. There was no stopping it from happening either.

So Sakura just powered through her shower, deciding to get in there and let Ino get it out of her system. That way she could spend longer using the sauna for its actual purpose.

Relaxing.

Sakura finished her shower and wrapped herself in a towel from the pile the hotel staff had left out for them, tucking it under her armpit and making sure it was secure before stepping out. It might be coming off again once she got to the sauna but she’d rather not have her towel fall off while she was walking. It was only a short distance from the showers to the sauna but you never knew what staff member might happen to be passing.

So, towel secured and her hair being pulled back into a ponytail, Sakura stepped out to find her friends in the middle of the same process. They made a quick scoot to the sauna and slipped into the already gloriously hot room.

‘Mmm, this is nice,’ Temari said with a sigh, unhooking her towel around her chest and readjusting so she could sit comfortably on the wooden bench.

They all made noises of agreement, staking out spots on the benches so they were all in reach of the rocks making the lovely steam.

Sakura could feel Ino’s eyes on her as she sat down and scoffed. She undid her towel, just like Temari had, and sat down with her towel covering her modesty from the waist down.

‘Go on pig,’ Sakura sighed as she watched blonde park her naked ass on her towel and cross her legs, modesty never having been a problem for her. ‘Make the jokes.’

Tenten covered a giggle as she too followed Temari’s lead and left herself covered from the waist down. ‘You know if you didn’t react she wouldn’t make them right Saks?’

‘Yes she would,’ Sakura said crossing her arms over her chest and really trying not to pout. ‘She thinks she’s making me feel better about my body. Pervert that she is.’

‘Hey now,’ Ino said in the same innocent voice from the showers. ‘Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.’

Sakura shot the naked woman a dirty look and flicked her the bird.

Ino just grinned. ‘Though now that I’ve seen the girls, I can definitely tell they need a man’s touch …’

Sakura groaned as Temari and Tenten failed to cover their small laughs. Bitches.

The blonde woman leered a little more and winked. ‘And just so you know … Hinata’s might be bigger but I bet Naruto would say yours are prettier!’

The pinkette blushed scarlet and threw the only thing she had at her disposal at the cackling blonde. Her towel.

It hit Ino hard enough to knock her back but it did nothing to crack the smile on her best friend’s face. ‘My my Sakura, I think you’re throwing your clothes at the wrong blond!’

Temari and Tenten, who’d been doing their best to hide their laughter finally dropped the pretence and doubled over in their giggles. All of which, along with the sudden realisation of Sakura being fully naked made the pinkette’s blush spread all the way down to her toes.

‘Shut up and give me back my towel,’ Sakura grumbled as she snatched at it.

Ino winked again and after one time of pulling it just out of Sakura’s grasp, let her take it back and cover herself.

‘You really need to stop reacting Sakura,’ Temari said with a rueful smile as Sakura sat primly on the bench and crossed her arms.

‘She also really needs to jump Naruto’s –’

Temari poured more water over the hot stones, making them hiss loud enough to drown out Ino, and reached over to pinch the shameless woman on the knee.

‘Leave it alone Ino,’ Temari said passively. ‘You’ve already pulled enough pranks this weekend and it’s only the first day. Today’s for _all_ of us to relax. Stop stressing Sakura out over him, you’ve already given her enough to deal with there.’

Had Sakura mentioned how much she loved being Temari’s friend?

Cos she really did.

Ino held up her hands, still smiling of course, bitch, and Sakura finally let herself relax again. Ino had made her jokes and Sakura had made a bit of a scene. Now they could spend the rest of their time in here just enjoying the warm, moist air and destress.

At least that’s what happened until Tenten went and ruined it by asking a stupid question.

And Sakura had just started imagining what it’d be like to be in a sauna with Naruto too.

With just a towel between her and his … modesty. And trying to hide just how much she was enjoying the idea, which admittedly was pretty easy in all the steam. Her face being red could be blamed on the actual steam instead of the steam inside her head.

‘Wait, what prank?’ Tenten asked, her fingers idly braiding and undoing her hair.

‘Oh,’ Temari said with a satisfied sigh, easing back against the bench and raising her arms above her head to act as a pillow. ‘Ino rang up and got Naruto and Sakura stuck into sharing a room.’

Sakura, who’d let her eyes drift closed the more she’d thought about a steamy room alone with just Naruto, opened one eye to peer at a grinning, unrepentant Ino. She just glared back idly before letting her eyes drift closed again as she went back to her happy little daydream.

She couldn’t shake the image of her idiot just staring at her sat topless in front of him. Truthfully she wasn’t trying very hard. Naruto had always been a boob guy, he’d always been very honest about it when asked and she’d maybe dressed with more cleavage on display than she would normally, just to get a little more of the gorgeous man’s attention.

It had done wonders for her ego she had to admit. He managed to keep a little reserve and gentlemanliness about him when he was sober but when Naruto got drunk … it made her shiver pleasantly to remember the look of hunger on his face when he was staring at her.

If he was in a sauna with her with her girls out? He’d be so entranced she’d probably be able to get him to agree to anything. And if he asked for anything while looking at her like that … he’d be given it in a heartbeat.

‘That’s hilarious,’ Tenten said, leaning forward on her knees. The hiss of more steam filled the air. ‘Guess you finally got sick of threatening them and actually followed through in locking them in a room together huh?’

Ino hummed lightly and stretched out on her bench too. ‘Felt like the right time, especially after Sakura told me about their little plan for the weekend.’

The pinkette was too lost in her daydream of the things she’d let a mostly naked Naruto do to her in a sauna to really be paying attention though, too lost in the pleasant idea of his hands running over her heated flesh.

‘What plan?’ Temari and Tenten asked in unison.

Plan?

‘Her and Naruto’s plan,’ Ino said, her voice sounding distant and pulling her rudely away from where dream-Naruto’s lips were descending.

‘You know how they’re here together?’ Ino asked, the tone begging for the women to ask for more detail. The teasing grin that Sakura could feel on her friend’s face actually pulling her away from dream-Naruto and his hands just long enough for panic to set in.

‘Course, they always do that.’ Tenten waved it off and went back to reclining.

‘Yeah but this time,’ Ino said, with an excitement that you’d expect on a child talking about Christmas. ‘They’re here _together_ together!’

‘WHAT?!’ Temari and Tenten both rushed forward and stared from the cackling Ino to the blissed out Sakura.

‘We’re on a platonic date,’ Sakura said with faux-neutrality, playing it off like it wasn’t important, trying desperately to drift back into the daydream. ‘We thought it’d be a way to get you guys off our case so we could enjoy the wedding.’

‘But it’s a date? You two are finally on a date?!’ Tenten said, scooting over to the almost horizontal Sakura and nudging her outer thigh. ‘Spill Saks, if this is finally happening we need details!’

Sakura’s daydream was slipping out of her fingers and she grumbled at the continued nudging. ‘Do you mind? I’m trying to relax here.’

Tenten snorted and pointed at her nipples. ‘Sure, stop fantasising about him and answer the question.’

‘It’s a platonic date,’ Sakura insisted, sitting up and slowly coming back out of the fun haze she’d been in. ‘We agreed to it when we were having breakfast at his place, so we’re here together and we’re gonna have a good time and you lot can finally stop going on about it.’

‘Platonic?’ Tenten asked, the sheer weight of her disbelief enough to crush anyone unlucky enough to be under it.

Ino mouthed ‘platonic’ while making dramatic air quotes with her fingers. Sakura rolled her eyes and snorted.

‘Yes!’ Tenten cheered and slid back to her bench. ‘And you’ve got them in the same room?’

Ino nodded and grinned at Sakura who, now she was coming back to herself, was getting just a bit annoyed with Ino for spilling. But honestly, it wasn’t a platonic date anymore and she’d be lying if she tried to say it was.

Besides, her desperately wishing the hands massaging her were his and that she was too excited to be going back to _their_ room and to share _their_ bed … no, there wasn’t anything platonic about the date anymore. She doubted even Naruto thought there was.

She hoped.

‘Oh you guys are so gonna hook up!’ Tenten said excitedly, clapping her hands together like a little girl. It was kinda weird to see your twenty-eight year old friend, who was an Olympic athlete, mother, wife and currently naked, clap like a little girl but it was also kinda funny. ‘Guess you win the pool Temari huh?’

Temari smirked, easing back into her reclining position. ‘I knew you weren’t too broken up about sharing a bed with him all weekend. I’m suddenly glad your room is at the other end of the corridor to mine. I don’t want to have to compete to have the most energetic sex on my own wedding weekend. I’d kill Shikamaru trying to keep up!’

Sakura blushed and looked away from the three laughing women. ‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, just because we’re on a date doesn’t mean it’ll go _there_. Hell it could go awfully.’

She could feel the collective eye roll but that didn’t change the fact. This really could blow up in her face, because yes, she was finally ready to make a move on him, the conditions were more or less perfect, but there really was the possibility that he didn’t want to risk their friendship or that while he was clearly attracted to her … the number of heart wrenching and libido revving conversations they’d had about that little fact were part of the reason she was even willing to try her luck … but it could end there.

Their romantic history with each other was spotty. There’d been mutual crushes she was sure of it, and more than a couple near misses ... and then there was his twenty-second birthday …

But if her idiot had wanted her to be his … he’d have done something about it by now. Yeah he’d never made the first move with anyone he’d been with, said he never wanted to assume and that was the soothing balm to her that implied that his inaction wasn’t lack of interest but manners and respect for her boundaries.

Which really just made her want to ride him til she broke him all the more.

But in any other element of his life? Naruto Uzumaki dived in head first and worried about the consequences later. It was part of what was so damn attractive about him.

‘You know Sakura …’ Ino said with a slow grin, dragging her out of her depressing headspace. ‘I do think this would be the best time for you to show up at your room naked with beer … it’d make your intentions perfectly clear to him.’ Ino’s eyes dragged over her almost naked form and she winked. ‘Even he’s not that oblivious and with how hot you are … he’d have you on your back before you said hello.’

Sakura blushed scarlet and turned away from the cackling blonde, looking beseechingly to her other two friends.

Who were similarly unhelpful.

‘Don’t look at me Saks,’ Tenten said with a smug grin. ‘I’ve been rooting for this since junior year. Put us all out of our misery and boink the man. We’ve been waiting for it long enough.’

‘That’s not fair,’ Sakura said sourly. ‘I’ve been waiting too.’

‘Yeah but that sweet idiot wouldn’t dare make the first move so you have to,’ Ino said, the other two agreeing with nods and even Sakura’s inner voice crowed it’s agreement. ‘Storming a crime lord’s stronghold is nothing to him in comparison to finally admitting he wants to spend his every waking moment between your legs.’

‘Ino!’ Sakura shouted, her hands going to her mouth. ‘The hell is wrong with you?!’

‘What? He would!’ Ino fired back, throwing her hands in the air exasperated. ‘He even admitted it! I had pour like a quart of tequila down him to get him to admit it but he said it!’

The blush shot all the way down to her toes again so fast Sakura was amazed they didn’t shoot off. Naruto _never_ talked like that! Only in her dreams!

He was kind, and lovely and sweet and he never spoke so bluntly about sexual stuff. Even when they _had_ talked about it he wasn’t that blunt.

Temari snorted. ‘You have got to be paraphrasing, what did he actually say?’

Ino slapped the wood of her bench and stuck out her tongue. ‘He said that! He said if Sakura made the first move he’d take the next five!’

Sakura would happily let him.

‘When did he say this?’ Tenten asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘Cos we’ve all been trying to get him to crack through his manners for years, he’s never said anything like that to us.’

Temari nodded in agreement and her stare was so piercing Sakura was surprised Ino didn’t have holes in her. Sakura would be staring too but she’d heard more than enough of these ‘conversations’ and Temari was right, Ino had to be putting words in his mouth.

If she said Naruto wanted to make love to her all night or something romantic like that … she’d be more inclined to believe her. But spend every waking moment between her legs? It was too blunt for Naruto, even drunk Naruto.

Fuck, did it sound hot though.

‘Me, Sakura, Sai and him had a night out a couple weeks ago …’ Ino said, suddenly a little sheepish and looked away from Sakura. ‘While Sai and Sakura were drunk dancing like idiots I kinda cornered him.’

Sakura had vague memories of that night. Dancing with Sai had been hilarious. He might be able to draw beautifully but that was about all he could do creatively. He was the most robotic looking dancer and Sakura loved watching it. She’d feel mean if Sai cared, but he clearly didn’t. He’d actually given her one of his rare smiles, it was nice.

But knowing that Ino and Naruto had been having this apparently blunt as hell conversation about how badly Naruto wanted to fuck her … well, she didn’t know what to think.

Except that she was definitely gonna make a damn move now.

‘Why didn’t you tell me this?’ Sakura asked, her tone small and honestly she felt kinda hopeful.

Ino shrugged. ‘I’ve been telling you he wanted you for years Forehead, why would I think this time would be different.’

She had to give the blonde that. Ino had been claiming Naruto wanted her, that he loved her, that he looked at her like a starving man looked at food, for years. She wouldn’t have believed her and probably told her to go to hell. But now … with the overpowering sense of different around the weekend and the lingering eyes and meaningful flirting …

‘Holy shit,’ Tenten said in a whisper-quiet voice, brimming with excitement. ‘You’re gonna do it, aren’t you?’

‘Do what?’ Sakura asked, blushing crimson.

‘Don’t play dumb!’ Ino hissed, bouncing on the bench with repressed glee. ‘Temari, look at her eyes! She’s finally gonna do it!’

Temari stared at her through the steam and smiled slowly. ‘I’m gonna win the pool.’

‘She’s gonna jump his bones! Rock him like a hurricane! Do the do!’ Ino cheered, dancing in place and cheering. ‘You are right? Please tell me you’re gonna finally hop on the good foot and do the bad thing?’

Sakura blushed even deeper somehow at each new euphemism, but as brain bombarded her with images of how her night would end … she smiled ever so slightly before nodding.

‘Nah none of that,’ Tenten said, equally bright smile on her and the other women’s faces. ‘Say it Saks, please fucking say it.’

Sakura wanted to melt into the floor right now, she really did. She was too warm for all this right now, too naked and way, way too horny for that goddamn stupid man of hers.

‘Sakura …’ Ino wheedled, moving onto Sakura’s bench at the same time as Tenten and Temari got on the other side. ‘Come on Forehead …’

‘Fine,’ Sakura said, much more firmly than she felt, her legs were damn jelly as the words trickled past her lips. Her face was burning as Naruto’s grinning face swam in her mind’s eye.

‘Yes, I’m gonna jump his bones.’

* * *

Naruto smiled blithely across the table from Shikamaru and Neji, the only two players left in their game of poker.

Naruto picked up one of his chips, one of many, many chips he might add, and flicked it over his fingers. ‘Come on Nara, I’m gonna die of old age here.’

‘Can it Uzumaki,’ Shikamaru said, over his considerably smaller pile of chips. Honestly the fact that he was still in the game at all was impressive. Shikamaru might be the smartest out of the men but he couldn’t bluff for shit. ‘I’m thinking.’

‘Uh huh,’ Naruto said with a slow grin, another glance down at his cards and at the river before him. ‘Do I have time to get another drink then?’

‘Kiss my ass!’

Honestly, it always surprised him that Shikamaru wasn’t better at poker. There were elements of Shogi and no one could touch him on that. Or maybe it was just against Naruto that Shikamaru floundered. He’d only started to struggle once the less skilled or, in Kiba and Gaara’s case, less interested players had been rendered chipless that the spiky haired man had started to struggle.

Between Neji’ perfectly impassive blank expression, seriously trying to get a bead on Neji had always been difficult and it made him damn hard to beat at poker, and Naruto’s ability to outlast the most despicable suspects in any interrogation room this side of Kumo … Shikamaru having two hundred dollars left on the table was impressive.

But the war of attrition was coming for him and given what little Naruto had been able to pick up on Neji’s game stratergy … the long haired brunet was gonna go all in to end the game and go on to something a bit more energetic.

‘Come on Shikamaru,’ Neji said calmly, his own blank stare going from his cards to his prepped stacks of chips, just waiting to be shoved into the massive pot. ‘Check or raise and let’s get this over with. Then we can move onto something where you might actually win.’

‘Fuck the pair of you.’

‘I believe my sister would take exception to that,’ Gaara intoned from next to Naruto, sipping on his beer slowly. ‘On your wedding weekend I believe only _she_ should be fucking you.’

Naruto crowed with laughter, Gaara smirking next to him as Shikamaru’s cheeks went ever so slightly red. Even Neji chuckled lightly as he tapped his two cards.

‘Naruto was a terrible influence on you Gaara,’ Shikamaru said, a shred of awkwardness bristling his tone. ‘Fine, to hell with it, check.’

Naruto nudged Gaara’s arm with his own and clinked his glass with the auburn haired man’s. ‘What’s it gonna be Hyuuga?’ Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘Hmm,’ Neji hummed. ‘I’m all in, let’s see what you’ve been so smug about.’

With a clattering of chips, Neji shoved his pile into the pot, damn near doubling it and watched Naruto expectantly, ignoring Shikamaru’s frustrated groan.

‘You sure?’ Naruto chuckled. ‘What if I’ve got a royal flush and I’ve just cleaned you both out like I did Kiba?’

He raised his voice loud enough to make sure the dog lover heard him and was rewarded by an indignant litany of four letter swear words from somewhere in the pool. Apparently he’d just thrown off Kiba’s shot in the impromptu water polo game the players who’d been knocked out had started.

‘Eat a dick!’ Kiba shouted angrily, an impetus splash of water over the lip of the pool making a couple of spots catch Naruto’s legs. ‘I almost scored!’

‘Like high school all over again,’ Neji chuckled quietly. ‘Kiba striking out because Naruto was in the room.’

Everyone in earshot laughed, Naruto doing his best to not laugh _too_ loud. But well … while he wasn’t exactly a lady killer or anything in school, it was brought to his attention that Kiba had lost ‘a sure thing’ more than once because the girl had caught sight of Naruto.

It made him blush to think about it really. He also doubted it was actually true, no matter how many times his friends insisted.

More swear words came from the pool but they turned to a gurgle as Kiba was dunked under the water by Chouji as he tackled the other man for the ball.

‘Enough distractions from the peanut gallery,’ Shikamaru said tersely. ‘Go all in already.’

Naruto held up his hands and chuckled before pushing his entire pile into the now humongous pot. There had to be at least a couple grand in there. ‘Just remember you’re the one who thought it was a good idea to play poker with a cop and a special agent.’

Neji chuckled lightly. ‘Alleged special agent Naruto,’ he corrected.

‘Right, right, a cop and an alleged special agent.’ Naruto grinned winningly at the steadily more frustrated Shikamaru.

He grumbled unintelligibly under his breath and shoved his remaining chips into the pot and revealed his cards. ‘There, aces high flush. Smug pricks.’

Naruto managed to marshal his expression into passivity but he could already feel the joy building in his gut. As long as Neji didn’t have a better hand than him … Naruto was gonna walk away from the table with ten grand.

‘Very nice,’ Naruto said with a grin. ‘Neji? Am I getting a new car or are you adding more to Hideki’s college fund?’

Neji snorted, both of them ignoring the very loud growl coming from the man of the weekend. ‘If you’ve beat this hand Naruto, _I’ll_ buy you a new car to replace that scrap on wheels you call a car, then you can spend the money on a romantic holiday you take Sakura on, and the rest on the deposit of the Uzumaki-Haruno wedding.’

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from reacting any further than a furious frown.

The lot of them had been trying to throw Naruto off with stuff like that about Sakura. Even Kiba had scored a reaction once he’d hit on the fact that Naruto and Sakura were sharing a room this weekend.

He’d been as artless as ever about distracting Naruto with some very inventive imaginings of Sakura and Naruto’s night time activities. So badly that when Naruto had suggested that when he cleared out the perverted prick at the table, he got to throw him into the pool by his neck, all the guys had agreed it was only fair.

No one else had been as blunt with their attempts to throw Naruto’s mind to places it had practically been living in all day, especially as he drank more beer and he remembered that Sakura was a cuddler when she was asleep.

There’d been more than a couple of mornings where the two had had to share a bed that Naruto found himself with a face full of pink hair or with the feel of her body pressed against his back so much that he could probably guess what size bra the woman wore.

So thankfully for his poker game, none of them had been able to beat his brain for reminding him that both of those possibilities were almost certainly going to happen this weekend. Hard to distract someone who’s already distracted.

It was about the time that Kankuro, who’d actually mistaken Sakura and Naruto for a couple when he’d first met them and was still convinced he hadn’t been wrong, made a slight dig that Naruto had stopped playing poker for fun and decided he was gonna wipe the floor with all of them.

But his flared temper settled into a purr as he watched Neji’s hand turn over and he swallowed the massive grin.

‘Full house, aces over queens,’ Neji slid his cards forward, lifting out the queen of spades and queen of diamonds from the river along with the ace of hearts. ‘Beat that Uzumaki.’

Naruto allowed himself a slow grin as he stared down his sure of himself friend and winked at an already smirking Gaara.

Because of course he’d shown Gaara what he had in his hand the second he’d gotten it. Gaara had the best poker face out of all of them, there was no way he’d give away how good Naruto’s cards were. Unlike Lee, who’d almost gotten Neji out of the game with his inability to withhold his excitement. Neji hadn’t even waited for permission to kick the exuberant man into the pool, along with the chair he was sat on, when he’d ruined Neji’s bluff one too many times.

‘If you insist.’ Naruto revealed his cards, the queen of hearts and the queen of clubs. He revelled in the look of utter shock fall over Neji and Shikamaru’s faces. ‘Think that means I win right?’

‘Son of a bitch,’ Neji muttered, shaking his head as Shikamaru head-butted the poker table. ‘You better take Sakura somewhere nice with our money Naruto.’

‘Go throw yourself in the pool.’

Neji smirked and pulled on his previously ignored drink. Almost draining it. ‘So what’s next? I don’t really fancy joining in that … madness.’ He gestured at the pool where Kiba and Lee where fighting over the ball while Sai swam idly around the goal. Shino, Kankuro and Chouji splashing water on the two fighting men and laughing like little kids not grown men.

‘Well I don’t know about you three,’ Shikamaru said grumpily, marching over to the bar the hotel had left stocked with various brands of bottled beer and spirits for them to help themselves to. ‘But after getting rinsed by him, I need alcohol. Oi Kiba!’

The drenched man turned, losing the fight for the ball. ‘What?!’

‘Get your wet dog smelling ass out the pool and make yourself useful.’ Shikamaru lifted a pack of plastic red cups and ping pong balls from the bar.

‘Finally!’ Kiba cheered and made a beeline to the edge of the pool, making more of a mess than any rambunctious child could dream of. ‘You’re going down Uzumaki!’

‘If Sakura’s lucky,’ Chouji snickered as he climbed out of the pool, ignoring the glare Naruto shot his way. ‘What beer they got left Shika?’

‘Ummm,’ Shikamaru called from behind the bar, the only thing visible above the surface his pointy hair. ‘Lots, who wants what?’

Kiba, who was already setting up triangles of red cups with the speed and ease of a veteran of any frat party, looked up from what he was doing and shouted to Shikamaru. ‘Get the strong stuff Shika, we won’t feel beer at this point, we’ve been drinking since the afternoon!’

Naruto had to give the man that, he’d had at least five beers already and with all the nibbles and assorted spreads of food the hotel had left out for them along the bar … he was only feeling slightly buzzed.

‘Alright, alright,’ Shikamaru called back, popping back up holding three mostly full bottles of Talisker, a whiskey that tasted awful unless you were drunk enough not to care and would knock your damn socks off, Captain Morgan Spiced, because if you were gonna have rum who better to trust than a pirate captain? And finally a bottle of what looked like tequila. He was only going on the bottle having a sombrero on it though.

‘Okay!’ Kiba said happily, taking the bottles off of Shikamaru and pouring very generous slugs of each spirit into the waiting cups. ‘Who’s up first?’

‘Naruto,’ Shikamaru said, nudging the blond around the table with swift jabs in the ribs until he was across from Kiba. ‘The prick needs knocking down a peg. He won’t be so smug when Sakura can’t seduce him because she’s too busy holding back his hair.’

The gathered men, towelling off and grabbing beers from the bar laughed and nudged each other with knowing grins.

He just sighed and shook his head at them, glancing down at the very full cups and then back at Kiba. ‘Alright, but how about we make it interesting, I beat Kiba at this, and you lot stop with the Sakura jokes yeah?’

‘And if Kiba wins?’ Sai asked, his eyes flicking from both triangles of cups. ‘He does seem the sort to be very good at this. I imagine he’s spent many nights drunkenly throwing balls at cups and nothing else.’

Kiba puffed out his chest in pride at the comment of his prowess, and was clearly just a little too tipsy to register that it was a bit of backhanded compliment.

It probably wasn’t helping that the rest of the men were snickering into their hands.

‘If Kiba wins …’ Chouji started, scratching his chin. ‘Naruto has to … put up with Sakura jokes for a month?’

‘He does that already,’ Shino said quietly, pushing up his sunglasses from the edge of his nose. ‘We need something he doesn’t already do.’

‘Sell his Jeep?’ Kankuro offered, taking a pull from his bottle of beer. ‘That thing needs scrapping. It’s a health hazard.’

‘Hey!’ Naruto shouted, glaring at his nodding friends. ‘None of you complained about the Jeep when you were getting lifts in it!’

‘We were teenagers and it was ten years younger,’ Shikamaru shot back. ‘No, how about he has to give us back all our money from the poker?’

‘He won fair and square,’ Gaara said evenly. ‘Don’t blame him for your inability to bluff Shikamaru.’

Shika flushed slightly at that but didn’t say anything. Wisely.

‘I know!’ Lee cheered, throwing his arms in the air. ‘If Naruto loses he has to run around the hotel ten times!’

Naruto could do that … probably fall over a couple times, but he could do it.

‘Naked,’ Kankuro said smirking. ‘Give the girls a good old eyeful eh Uzumaki?’

Okay … that was a little less doable, but he didn’t think he’d actually lose so he wouldn’t be against that, as long as the forfeits for the others got as outrageous. He wondered if he could convince Kiba to go for another sprint through the deer forest. There were more than a couple stag in there who’d like a second go at the stupid man.

Speaking of the dog lover though, he’d been suspiciously quiet through the whole time their friends were offering up more and more embarrassing forfeits. Too quiet.

‘Guys shut up, I got the perfect forfeit for him,’ Kiba said slowly, running the ping pong ball over his palm with his thumb. ‘If Naruto wins, we stop the jokes for the rest of the weekend, and you know what? For good measure, he can throw me in the pool fully dressed.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Naruto said with a cheeky grin.

‘Just wait, this bit’s gonna sound even better.’ His smirk widened. ‘If he loses, he has to make a move on Sakura and put us all out of our misery.’ Kiba smirked and threw the ball he was holding at Naruto’s cup, the ball landing square in the middle cup. ‘Deal?’

The crowd of grown men suddenly forgot they weren’t teenagers any more and Naruto and Kiba were surrounded by ‘oooh’s.

Naruto stared down at the floating ball in the cup of whiskey and frowned. ‘That’s fucked up Kiba, you know that’s not how things between me and Sakura are.’

‘Bullshit,’ Kiba said sharply. ‘You’re the only person here who doesn’t see how bad that woman wants you, and how badly you want her. And at this point Uzumaki, you’re at a wedding, sharing a room and a bed with her and there’s gonna be drinking and dancing and love is in the fucking air … if you don’t make your move now, you never fucking will and the pair of you deserve to at least fucking try.’

The crowd had gone solemnly quiet, as if Kiba’s words were coming from all of them and not just Kiba’s rather acerbic manner of telling Naruto some perceived hard truths.

Naruto was so dumbfounded by the sheer abruptness of his friend’s words he was still reeling when the shorter man barrelled on.

‘We all understood why nothing happened at my and Hinata’s wedding, that had to be kinda weird for you, ancient history or not, you two used to date, it would be weird to hook up with the woman Hinata was convinced you were gonna leave her for.’ Kiba shook his head and rolled his eyes. ‘If only you’d have listened to her back then. We wouldn’t have had to watch you two dance around and waste each other’s time cos you’re too chicken shit to make the move. So I’m forcing your hand.’

Naruto glared at Kiba. Hard. He didn’t appreciate Kiba’s tone and the longer he had to settle into what was actually being said the knee jerk defensiveness was kicking into gear. But he never got the chance to answer as Kiba threw a ping pong ball at him.

‘But hey, beat me and you don’t have to. You still should, but we won’t make you. Now … deal?’

Kiba splayed his hands in front of his cups and stared dead ahead at Naruto, never flinching.

In that moment, all Naruto could think about was how sweet it’d be to chokeslam Kiba into the fucking water. Screw everything else, he’d beat the arrogant bastard and then they’d all have to shut up about him and Sakura.

And he wouldn’t have to admit how close to home Kiba had hit with his accusations.

It had left him reeling if he was honest. Kiba had maybe been a bit blunt about how he and Sakura should get together in the past but normally it was just the two of them and they were both a whole lot drunker than they were right now. And Kiba had never called him out in front of _all_ of their guy friends like that.

The way all his friends had looked at him during Kiba’s little speech was still kicking him a bit as well. Even Gaara and Sai were suspiciously quiet on the whole thing.

But despite Naruto’s best efforts to deny it … he had to admit there was something to Kiba saying they were dancing around each other. That there was clearly something between him and Sakura and with all that had happened in the short time before the wedding and this morning …

He’d called her Sakura-chan, after they’d agreed to a date … even he had to admit that meant _something_. Even if he was scared to delve into specifics.

It was easier to push that aside for now though and focus on the task at hand.

Which was kicking Kiba’s ass.

He picked up the cup the ball had landed in and drained it in one long swallow.

It burned his throat and made his eyes water a little but when he’d finish the cup he met Kiba’s gaze.

‘I hope you left your phone on the bar Kiba,’ Naruto said, picking up the ball and tossing it at the triangle of cups before his friend. Grinning as it landed in the very front one. ‘Cus you’re going in that damn pool.’

Kiba grinned fiercely and necked the cup with a flick of his wrist, taking aim he threw the ball at Naruto’s cups again.

Naruto’s gut dropped a little when the ball landed in another one, the spirit sloshing over the lip of the cup slightly.

The creeping sense that he might have just fucked himself settled into his gut as he picked the cup up and plucked the ball out.

Kiba just grinned expectantly and suddenly Naruto was glad he had more cups to drink.

God, what had he agreed to?

* * *

Okay.

Okay, okay, okay.

She was gonna do it.

Sakura leant against the wall of the elevator as it climbed up to her floor. Her fingers tapping against the chilled bottle of wine, the coolness of the glass against her palm helping to soothe her racing brain. The two glasses in her other hand clinking as her fingers shook just a little bit.

This was crazy, she was crazy. But he’d said those things to Ino, and things were different between them. And it felt like a good different … a wonderful different. And yes she’d had a couple more glasses of wine with the girls once they’d gotten out of the sauna. And yes it was possible that the vodka cranberry had been a mistake when she was coming up to finally make a move on the most wonderful, beautiful, kind and _hot_ man she’d ever known.

But it’s not like she’d lost her damn mind in the planning. She was still fully clothed and showing up with a bottle of very nice wine and two glasses. As opposed to Ino’s insistence she show up at the door of their room … fuck, _their_ room … naked, carrying a six pack of beer.

She was being more romantic and less … horny about it. That was the smarter choice right? Naruto wasn’t the kinda guy who just hooked up with someone and fucked off the next morning.

And besides that wasn’t what she was aiming for here. If she thought her and Naruto could have just had a wham bam thank you ma’am … then she’d have jumped his bones the first chance she’d got.

Heaven knew she’d thought about it enough. One could say she’d been somewhat obsessively thinking about it. Taken very long showers over the thought of Naruto’s strong yet somehow still gentle hands running over her body, dropping her into valleys and raising her to peaks of pleasure that she’d never experienced with anyone.

But that could never be their arrangement. It would have been so much simpler if it could be but the idea of trying to keep feelings out of any sort of thing with Naruto? It was so impossible it was laughable.

She loved him, and not just love as a friend, definitely not in the way you love a guy so much it’s like he’s a family member. The only family member of hers Sakura wanted Naruto to be involved rings and vows.

And broken mattresses.

She blushed at herself in the mirrored walls of the elevator as she giggled.

Would the hotel staff judge them too much if they wound up breaking the bed? Her and Naruto did have years of sex to make up for. And if the hints of Naruto’s skills in bed that Hinata had drunkenly let slip in the past were anything to go by … the hotel would be lucky if it was just the bed they broke.

They’d forgive them. They were just young and in love and honestly, they should have been breaking beds together for years at this point. You could make the argument, hell Ino and Tenten had been quite vocal that her dating Sasuke and him dating Hinata should never have happened. That the two of them should have just gotten together in school and saved everyone the headache.

But they hadn’t been the ones with the _feelings_. Because of course she’d had the feelings, they’d never really gone away, they’d been there when it was just a bit of girlish crush on her cute friend, they’d bloomed into a bigger crush when puberty hit and her cute friend had shot up and filled out and become her _hot_ friend.

And the feelings had only grown as the years had gone on. Even through relationships they’d both had, through heartache and hardships and good times and celebrations, they’d always been there and while she’d always found him drop dead gorgeous in ways that only smutty fanfic could describe … if she even tried to pretend it was just a physical thing she’d be a damn liar.

How hard she loved that stupid, sexy man was unbearable. It was terrifying and exciting and unbelievable all at once. He did such sweet things, like show up at the hospital with lunch for them just to spend time with her on busy weeks or because she was down.

He’d never failed to send her flowers on her birthday and the one time he’d shown up in his police uniform at her hospital with flowers and chocolates and that stupid kissable grin on his face … she’d damn near thrown herself at him in the middle of the ward.

How she hadn’t was still beyond her. He looked so fucking hot in his uniform. A little part of her was actually very upset when he’d gotten his promotion and could wear plain clothes to work.

Though it was probably a blessing in disguise at the time … if she’d had to put up with another year of him in his very flattering uniform … she’d have probably ripped it off him and rode him into oblivion.

Like she was gonna do the second she got through the door.

The elevator dinged as it reached their floor. The doors slid open and with a sure nod to herself, and a little bit of a fiddle with her hair and cleavage … God she wished she’d had the foresight to dress a little more revealing this afternoon.

If she’d only known she was gonna be seducing him she’d have worn her sexy undies, the dark green set that made her skin glow. Or at least what Ino had told her it would do for her.

But no, stupid her had thought she’d best dress for comfort. Oh well, he’d definitely been staring at her ass this morning when she was dressed for travel … she strongly suspected she could wear a black trash bag and Naruto would still find her hot.

Cus he did. He’d told her. It made her toes curl to think about it.

She steadied herself against the mirrored wall and once she was sure of her footing, she walked out towards their room.

The flutter those two words made really shouldn’t be so enjoyable.

Though she knew that wasn’t what was making her flutter.

It was probably the knowledge that if she was very lucky … he’d be making other parts of her flutter in their room all night.

She spotted their door and marched towards it, only swaying slightly as she reached into her purse for the key.

She tried not to giggle at the imagery of a key going into a lock and the innuendo her brain could make about that … she’d happily have his key in her lock … and out and in and out and in …

‘Steady Sakura,’ she muttered to herself, taking a deep breath and holding her hands out facing the floor. ‘That’ll come. And then so will you. A lot hopefully. Hinata did mention how generous he was. Though be honest, you’re not surprised about that.’

Sakura giggled and blushed. She rested her head against the door, the key resting in the lock and took a few steadying breaths before going over her plan one last time.

‘Okay so, let yourself into our room,’ she whispered to herself.

_OUR ROOM!_

‘Be calm and alluring as you sway in, he likes the way you sway,’ she continued, shouting down her excitable hormones. ‘Say hi, ask how his day was with the boys, tell him how yours was with the girls. Drop the fact that the sauna was best experienced topless, you know how much of a boob guy he is.’ She held her hands up to her breasts like she was going to hold them.

‘Then when he asks why you’re up here, tell him when you asked the boys where he was they said he’d gone to the room and you wanted to check on him.’ She smiled to herself and ran a hand through her hair. ‘Try not to literally throw yourself at him, ask if he wants to have some wine with you and talk. Pray he says yes, sit on the bed, sit as close to him as you can Sakura, do _not_ chicken out and ruin this for us. From there start talking about your feelings and him and his feelings about you and then … and then … then kiss him.’

She smiled some more to herself and bit her lip as she imagined his lips on hers … and lower. God please a _lot_ lower.

‘And if he returns the kiss, which he will because you know he loves you too … delve deeper and hopefully you’ll be thanking Ino in the morning for insisting that you pack condoms. Yeah, yeah, that’s what you’re gonna do. That’s the plan, we like the plan, it’s a good plan. Okay.’

Sakura nodded, fiddling with her hands and fingers, checking her breath against her hand and with a final deep breath in she turned the key and tried not to squeak when the lock clicked.

As the door swung slightly open she was met with darkness. Not even lamplight from further into the room. If it weren’t for the little red light on the TV and the light springing forth from the corridor, their room would be pitch black.

Well … the boys had said Naruto had been a bit worse for wear when he’d left them earlier and it _was_ late. He could be napping.

That was okay, she’d just wake him up, it kinda ruined her ‘sway in sexily’ plan but that wasn’t crucial. The talking was the important part … and the sex. Definitely the sex.

Shaking her head to clear the images suddenly flooding in, she needed to at least try to focus on the romantic element until the kissing started damn it.

How was she meant to focus on telling him she loved him when her brain was screaming at her to mount him like the stallion he was?

She felt around by the wall to try and find the switch for a lamp. The hotel had fitted switches for the bedside lamps at the door in case … well in case you were coming into your room when bright lights would be painful.

She flicked the switch and swore as the overhead light flickered to life.

Managing to shut it off again, thank God the hotel had moved over to energy saving bulbs, she doubted Naruto would have appreciated being woken up by blasting light.

Would kinda put a damper on her whole confess and seduce him plan too.

Deciding to just get in the room proper and sort out the light problem after, Sakura let the door slide shut gently behind her. She placed the wine and glasses on the table and tried to ignore its sturdiness for the time being.

Later, that could be thought about later.

She guided herself into the room by the wall, finding the double bed with her thighs rather than her eyes and swallowed a surprised curse.

Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness the longer she was in it and she could just about make out Naruto, lying on his side under the covers. She could hear his gentle breathing and she smiled to herself.

As she got closer his face came into focus. He looked so peaceful sleeping like that. She let her finger trace over his jaw and smiled fondly as his lips turned up at her touch. It was almost a shame to wake him he looked so peaceful.

But they really, really needed to talk and other stuff. Her adjusting eyes trailed down his face to his very clearly bare shoulders and her brain was already sprinting ahead of her by wondering if that meant in his drunkenness Naruto had just stripped down and gotten into bed.

How far had he stripped down? It asked.

She didn’t know but that would fall under the other stuff they needed to do. A list that was growing with every passing second.

‘Naruto?’ She said gently, reaching out to touch his shoulder, loving the warmth of his skin under her palm. It was so welcoming and lovely, she wanted to rub her face against it. ‘Naruto, it’s Sakura. Are you awake?’

But he didn’t answer. Just kept breathing steadily, in and out, in and out, the motion making his chest rise and fall. His very nice chest she remembered from all the times she’d seen him shirtless.

Ogling could wait until after he’d woken up and she’d kissed him though. First he needed to not be sleeping.

‘Hey, I know you’re sleeping Naruto, but I need you to wake up so we can talk,’ she shook him lightly by the muscled shoulder. She managed to catch herself stroking the muscle before too long.

But Naruto wouldn’t wake up.

She frowned at the stupid, sexy, sleeping man and sighed heavily.

Leaning in so her lips were by his ear, his face so close to her neck she could feel his warm breath against it. It made her toes tingle.

‘Naruto,’ she dragged out in a sing-songy voice. ‘I need you to wake up so we can talk about stuff.’ She cradled his face and ran her thumb over his cheekbone. ‘Come on, don’t make me beg.’

But he still wouldn’t wake the hell up.

Fine, he wanted the big guns? He’d get the big guns. He never failed to wake up when she tried this one. She knelt down so her face was parallel to his on the bed.

‘Naruto,’ she whispered, placing her lips against his cheek in a slow, lingering kiss. She even made a point of making the ‘mwah’ sound to add extra emphasis. ‘Wake up sleepyhead.’

The blond smiled and Sakura’s heart nearly burst out her chest. Had that worked? Was he finally waking up?

But all Naruto did was smile some more, rub his face into the pillow and smack his lips.

‘Oh come on!’ she whined, her head falling forward against his shoulder as she resisted the urge to fucking cry.

Why the hell wouldn’t he wake up?! She got herself all prepared to finally tell him how she felt about him, worked up all the courage she could and made the most scary decision of her romantic life to stop denying the obvious and he didn’t have the decency to. Wake. The. Fuck. _UP?!_

But as she knelt there glaring at his stupid, beautiful face she couldn’t stay mad at him. He was too cute to glare at, and besides, it wasn’t really his fault. He was drunk and he’d always slept like a rock when he was drunk.

‘Ugh,’ she groaned, turning and letting herself collapse against the mattress, facing away from his cute face. ‘This is probably just the universe making fun of me for not acting sooner.’

She let her head fall back and glared at the ceiling and the heavens above it.

‘I hope you’re finding my romantic and sexual needs going unfulfilled as funny as you expected. Bet you’re all a bunch of men up there, no woman would be this cruel to me.’

She gave the ceiling the finger and turned to look at Naruto, mostly to make sure he’d had the decency to stay asleep during that little tirade. If she was going to be cockblocked by him being asleep the least he could do was not wake up when she was bitching at the sky.

For the first time since she’d come in the room she was relieved to find him still asleep.

‘Erf, fuck this.’ Sakura forced herself up and guided herself around the wall to where she thought she left the wine.

Sure, she’d meant to share it with him, but as he was being rude and not waking up, she was gonna have to drink alone.

Besides, she thought as she glanced over wistfully at what had clearly been left as _her_ side of the bed … she was gonna need at least one more glass of wine to help her fall asleep next to the sleeping Adonis that was a possibly naked Naruto Uzumaki.

She let her mind wander just a little bit, mostly around his ass area to be honest, and sighed to herself again.

Well, she wasn’t going to let this little hiccup stop her from talking to Naruto about her feelings. If she had to try again tomorrow, then that was what she’d do. But before the weekend was out, she would tell Naruto how she felt about him.

And then she would ride him like a damn pony.

Wrapping her mind around that image and holding it very close, Sakura poured herself a glass of wine and started to undress.

‘Tomorrow,’ she muttered looking at Naruto’s still sleeping form as she slipped off her jeans. ‘Tomorrow.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie guys, I had so much fucking fun with this chapter and part of it was knowing that ending was coming and you were all going to fucking scream at me lol.
> 
> Poor Sakura just can't catch a damn break can she? Let's hope she has more luck tomorrow.
> 
> Peace!


	7. Lust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I'm gonna say guys, is there is a clue in the chapter title. Consider yourself warned.

Naruto was pleasantly warm as he woke up, a welcoming and soft heat that seemed to spread from his neck down to his shins.

He must have wrapped around his duvet or a pillow in his sleep. He’d woken up in weirder positions and, truth be told, whatever it was was so warm and soft he just wanted to hold it closer to him.

He was pretty sure it was a pillow, maybe one of those body pillows? He was pretty sure the Deer Cottage offered them. And that was definitely where he was. He could tell just from the softness of the mattress he wasn’t in his bed. It was definitely a hotel bed, his vague memories of arriving yesterday coming back to him as he lay there just on the edge of waking.

He kept his eyes closed, maybe if he did he wouldn’t have to leave the soft and warm embrace of this glorious bed yet. It wasn’t that he wasn’t looking forward to the weekend but it was so much less complicated to just stay in this glorious bed.

And with the wonderful pillow that he pulled fully against himself, letting his face fall into part of its soft surface and breathing deeply. He could just feel himself drifting off again.

Damn good pillow, did he mention?

It had just the right amount of give, firm enough you could squeeze but not so rigid it wouldn’t bend to your body if you wanted it to.

Though it did seem to have a couple bumps in the middle of it, kinda pear shaped? With another smaller bump on the curve of each. Maybe the pillow was meant to be therapeutic or something?

The bumps certainly were nice to hold, fitting almost perfectly in his hands as he cupped them and squeezed lightly to test the firmness. They had even more give than the rest of the pillow and the feel of them in his hands was calming. And kinda weirdly familiar, but he was too sleepy to delve into that.

Running his fingers along the swell of the bumps, Naruto frowned eyes still closed, pressing into them hard, seeing if they’d go back into the pillow but they wouldn’t, if anything the more he pressed and prodded the bigger bumps, the larger and pointier the smaller ones got.

He ran his fingers over the smaller bumps and tried to push them back in, but only wound up flicking them as they bounced back into place. The really weird thing was that whenever he tried to push the top bumps back in … it felt like two other bumps were forming down near his groin, rubbing against his morning erection in a way that Naruto would blushingly admit to enjoying. A lot.

Getting just a little frustrated he gave the smaller bumps one last push with his thumbs, pulling the whole pillow against him to try and increase the effectiveness.

‘Mmmm,’ the pillow sighed in response. ‘Naruto.’ It said in a lovingly admonishing tone.

…

Wait … what?

The pillow bumps by his groin pressed into him hard and he swore to God they wiggled against his stiffness and he had to swallow a groan, burying his face in the pillow to muffle it.

‘Mmm, you don’t have to stop copping a feel babe,’ his pillow teased, wiggling bumps still driving him further into the softness to muffle himself. ‘But don’t be so rough, it’s still morning give a girl a chance to wake up first.’

His eyes shot open and he reared back from the pillow.

Because he wasn’t holding a pillow by unexpected bumps.

Sakura’s bare back greeted him, sweet smelling pink locks flowing down it, a back decidedly absent of any clothes and as his shocked eyes scaled down the rest of her glorious body, her ass pressed right up against his manhood like it belonged there, it became clear Sakura wasn’t wearing anything at all.

And neither was he.

What the fuck?!

He didn’t have long to try and process the implications of that though, Sakura had peered over her shoulder at him, gloriously attractive bedhead unable to hide the desire burning in her eyes, and struck him dumb.

Was she gonna …?

She smiled at him, it was the warmest, happiest and most content smile he’d ever seen on her face and it was so goddamn beautiful. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his entire damn life.

Until Sakura rolled over in the bed and he was gifted the vision that was Sakura Haruno naked and facing him. Her breasts jiggling slightly as she moved, her unmistakeably hard nipples pointing at him as she made herself more comfortable. She propped herself up, a hand disappearing into her hair, her elbow digging into the soft mattress and she smiled some more at him.

Her smooth leg lifted to hook around one of his, her heel running up and down his calf while the inlet of her hips led his eyes down to the damp triangle of darkening pink resting above her sex.

She was sculpted perfection, a goddess made flesh. If you were to ask Naruto what Aphrodite looked like he’d tell you like her. And then tell you to stop distracting him so he could drink in the blessing that was seeing Sakura naked.

‘Hi. So,’ she said simply, her voice as content as her smile, a delicate finger running down the groove of his chest, tickling and scratching lightly. ‘What did I do to deserve such a rough wake up? And how do I apologise?’

Sakura leaned in, closing the very small distance between their bodies, and placed a slow, pointed kiss on his shoulder. She wrapped around him more, her hand not on his chest looping behind his back to stroke across his neck. It sent shivers down Naruto’s spine and he nearly had to shut his eyes her touch felt so good.

Naruto’s eyebrows ran to his hairline as Sakura’s lips nibbled at his shoulder and the hand on his chest delved downward, stroking and marvelling over his stomach until she was trailing a finger along his bare waist.

‘Because I have some suggestions I know you’ll love,’ she murmured into his chest, her own pressing into his side so delectably Naruto still couldn’t remember how to use his tongue.

What the hell happened last night to let them wind up naked in bed together?

And for Sakura to be acting like this? He couldn’t remember what happened last night … had they finally done it? Gotten drunk and hooked up in the way that their friends had always prayed they would?

Like the way _he_ prayed they could.

As she lay there watching him, a thoroughly pleased smile making him blush to his toes, Naruto did his best not to just stare at her breasts. He wasn’t doing very well though and to be honest, he’d never seen breasts so wondrous as Sakura’s and despite feeling perverted for it … he just couldn’t stop staring.

‘You can look babe,’ Sakura teased, her fingers disappearing into his hair and playing with it, her other fingers still teasing along his waist. ‘You got an eyeful last night, I think we’re past pretences that I have any issue with you seeing me naked. Besides, let’s be real here handsome, we should have been starting our mornings naked and together for years now.’

Naruto’s eyes finally flickered closed again as Sakura’s kisses moved up to his neck, her lips suckling on his pulse. She sighed into his skin, the action making her chest press into him, her nipples grazing him in the best way.

‘Last night?’ He muttered. More a passing thought than actual concern, as long as Sakura kept touching him he didn’t give a shit what led him to this wonderful position.

‘You don’t remember?’ Sakura asked, mock-hurt filling her tone. ‘I suppose we were both stupid drunk but don’t you remember our first time Naruto.’

Their what?!

‘You mean …’ Naruto’s eyes shot open again to find Sakura moving further on top of him, her heaven sent breasts filling his vision. ‘We slept together?’

‘Mhmm,’ Sakura hummed happily, the hand on his waist finally dancing down to his aching member, her fingers delicately stroking his already rock hard self. ‘I came in here drunk and looking to seduce and you were asleep like an idiot.’

She pumped him slowly, teasingly, almost like she was punishing him with pleasure she’d been denied last night. His brain couldn’t handle the image of this dream finally being realised and all questions ran screaming from his mind. Replaced eagerly with the shocks of giddy joy as Sakura played with him.

‘I was very hurt Naruto, you ruined my plan,’ she said, the same tone of mock-hurt dripping from her tongue, even as she kissed along his jaw.

‘I’m sorry,’ Naruto groaned, lifting his own hand to rest at the small of Sakura’s back, his fingers stroking a circle that made the woman’s smile widen just a touch.

Which buoyed him slightly, Sakura might be having no issues with touching him however she wanted, and thank God for it, but he couldn’t remember anything about last night. He couldn’t even remember where Sakura liked being touched.

He supposed she’d approved of him squeezing her boobs? If only a little gentler. God, knew it was where he’d like to start touching.

‘It’s okay, you made up for it,’ Sakura winked at him and squeezed his shaft just enough to make Naruto nearly swallow his tongue. ‘You woke up while I was getting ready for bed. Literally just as I was stripped down to my panties.’

Fuck, he wished he’d been able to see that! That would have been so hot … not as hot as waking up to see Sakura’s naked body rubbing against his but … he lost the train of thought as Sakura palm glided over his tip and he moaned as her thumb followed.

‘And before I could even react, you said I looked good enough to eat and pulled me down onto the bed.’ Sakura squeezed and pumped him, grinding against his bent leg and grinning into his cheek as she kissed it. ‘Do you know what you did while you had me transfixed on how _big_ this glorious thing was?’

Naruto grunted as she squeezed again and shook his head.

She lifted herself up, her body pushing him further into the mattress, and rested her open lips against his panting ones.

‘You ate me out so good,’ she murmured, licking at his lips in between pecking kisses. ‘It felt so good the only words I could say were “yes” and “more”.’

Her lips caressed his, his eyes drifting closed as she moaned into his mouth, her hands going up into his hair and entwining as she ground against him.

Her tongue slipped past his lips, running along his tongue, tasting, exploring and savouring him as she sighed. Naruto let his hands fall to her hips, a palm gripping the moving muscle, the other cupping her ass and squeezing gently.

Their lips never parted for long, except to draw breath, but Naruto could feel himself being rolled, Sakura leading him to be on top of her and he ran out of any thoughts other than this moment and her body.

They’d talk about hows and whys and whats when they were done, right now he just wanted to feel her around him.

‘Then while I was coming back to Earth,’ Sakura whispered once he was fully on top of her, her dazzling green eyes filled with love and desire and that same glowing contentedness. She kissed him slowly, gently and smiled once again. ‘You made love to me. And I was on cloud nine all over again.’

Naruto groaned, Sakura hips rocking and urging him on with slow languid movements he’d never have thought she was capable of, but had fantasised about for years. And here she was, lain out before him, every inch of her beautiful skin revealed to him and his to touch, to kiss, to lick … to take.

Like in his dreams.

She guided his hands up to her breasts, letting his fingers dance up her sides so she had to swallow a giggle, the spasm at the light tickling making Naruto’s hips buck slightly. The pinkette gasped and bit her lip.

He kneaded her breasts, his tongue going to one nipple as he massaged and stroked the jiggly loveliness before him. He sucked tenderly, breaking the suck to kiss a small circle around the hard nipple, making sure to roll and pinch the other.

Sakura moaned into the air and kept up the rocking of her hips as Naruto lavished licks and kisses over her breasts and nipples, changing between each but never leaving either unattended to. He hadn’t waited fourteen years to not touch every inch of the goddess of a woman writhing under him.

‘Make love to me Naruto,’ Sakura pleaded, her legs looping around his waist loosely, her hips still rocking against him. ‘Please baby, take me. I’m all yours.’

He kissed her, deeply, like he’d never be allowed to kiss her again, like kissing her was his only way to keep breathing and started to guide himself into her waiting heat.

* * *

Naruto somehow resisted the urge to scream.

Another fucking dream. Another fucking Sakura dream. Another fucking dream where he was about to fuck Sakura and this one didn’t even have the fucking decency to let him dream about being inside her.

At least the usual sex dreams he had about his best friend had the decency to let him get off damn it.

And even more irritating, he now had to deal with the fact that he was angry that he didn’t get to properly dream about fucking Sakura. Because he should be embarrassed that he was dreaming about that. Not angry. And honestly … kinda blue-balled about the fact that the dream had ended early.

He was gonna have to have a long think about that later. Much later. Like when said best friend wasn’t currently sleeping soundly in his arms. Her glorious peach of an ass buried against his morning erection and wiggling like she was trying to get more comfortable.

Naruto was just thanking God that at least when he’d woken up he wasn’t cupping her breasts. His hand wasn’t resting far away from them but at least he wasn’t actually holding them.

Or doing anything else.

He was also thankful Sakura was at least wearing something. And that he’d had the common sense last night to at keep his boxers on when he’d stripped off and climbed into the bed he clearly forgotten he was sharing with Sakura.

The suffering blond swallowed a groan as the beautiful woman, her back pressed into his chest, wiggled her ass in her sleep again and it felt so _damn good_.

If he didn’t know any better he’d actually wonder if he was dreaming again but as neither he or Sakura were buck naked and he hadn’t woken up copping a feel … he felt pretty sure he was properly awake.

Her hair wasn’t tied up though, it was loose and flowing, just like his dream.

Sakura usually tied her hair up to sleep when it was this long. Because you could get tangles in your hair or it could fall in your face otherwise and that apparently was both annoying and hard as fuck to fix. Something Sakura and his mom had told him about in great detail. Even Hinata had mentioned it once or twice.

He would secretly admit he much preferred Sakura’s long pink hair being loose though. He always had, it was just so damn pretty. And how dream-Sakura’s hair had looked against her bare back had been captivating. Her back that looked like it needed all the kisses he could give it, and lower down too …

He throbbed around his waist slightly as his brain fed itself the mirror image of the one before him, Sakura’s naked body replacing the mostly clothed one and her soft moans at his touch replacing the soft breathing coming from the actual woman.

He held his breath as Sakura stirred for a moment, the throb of his morning erection clearly effecting her. But she settled down and, much to his joint horror and pleasure, wiggled her ass and reached for his hand to pull it into her and sighed happily.

Some deity was laughing at him right now, he could feel it. He’d done something in a past life to piss off a god or a spirit and they were punishing him by having his beautiful best friend wiggling her beautiful ass, which he could see was only covered by what looked like a _very_ _sexy_ , very _small_ , pair of panties, against his dick.

If he hadn’t woken up with morning wood so hard he could break rocks with it … a couple wiggles of Sakura’s hips and seeing just what she was wearing to sleep in, would have had him at rock breaking hardness anyway.

Because she was wearing one of his t-shirts. And no bra. Because he couldn’t see the outline of her bra strap despite his nose practically being buried into her neck and where his hand _was_ resting … he’d be able to feel the cups of a bra.

So yeah.

He really wanted to move his hand down to somewhere more respectable. Honestly he wanted to remove it from Sakura entirely.

Sure they’d cuddled before and this was hardly the first time they’d woken up spooning but … but this was different. The whole week had been different. Like there was something coming for the pair of them and it was either going to be friendship ruining or the best thing ever and it was terrifying that he didn’t know which.

But it was way more terrifying that he was actively having to resist the urge to kiss Sakura’s neck.

Because he wasn’t meant to do that sort of thing with Sakura. It had never been a strong instinct when they’d woken up like this before. But they’d nearly always been more dressed than this when that had happened.

And he hadn’t normally had such an intense cock tease of a sex dream about Sakura when they’d woken up spooning.

And he _certainly_ had never just laid there with her in his arms and her ass wiggling against him.

No, never. The only times he’d ever woken up in this exact situation, girl in his arms, wearing his shirt and little else, was with a girlfriend. So the instinct to kiss Sakura’s neck wasn’t because it was Sakura’s neck, it was just an old reflex from cuddling girlfriends.

Wasn’t it?

_Sure, that’s why you can’t stop wondering what her skin tastes like, reflex._

He growled at himself, which made Sakura shift, which made her rub against him, which made him groan.

Groan loudly.

Because he hadn’t been expecting it and somehow Sakura had managed to move in a way that even through his boxers and her panties … felt really, really good.

And maybe it was because Sakura was still moving, still rubbing her delectable ass against his dick but he was barely able to muffle himself in time and it took all of his attention so he didn’t notice that Sakura wasn’t breathing softly anymore but was actually turning in his arms.

He was just managing to bring himself back to Earth, the feel of his face practically being on fire started to ebb … only to burst back to even bigger heat as he took in the sleepy angel of a woman now facing him, her bleary gaze the sort of lovely that made him just want to kiss the tip of her nose to see if he could make her smile.

She was so close. He could probably lean forward less than an inch and do it … or kiss her slowly upturning mouth and give her a proper good morning.

He blinked hard a couple of times and shunted those thoughts away for later, because the smile on Sakura’s face was turning slightly curious and a little mischievous and if he didn’t shoo away the leftover horny from his dream … he wouldn’t be thinking about kissing her lips for long.

At least not the ones smiling at him right now.

‘Hiya Naruto,’ she said through a cute yawn, a hand coming up to cover her mouth and then running up her face and through her hair, she rested down on her pillow and smiled at him, eyes drifting to his bare chest. ‘How’d you sleep?’

Visions of her naked body swam through his mind’s eye as Naruto tried to force out an innocent smile. ‘Fine, you?’

She yawned again and stretched, Naruto doing his best to be covert about how his eyes dipped down her body when she did.

‘Pretty good, it was nice to wake up being cuddled. It’s been a while since we spooned drunk huh?’ Sakura grinned sheepishly. Her own eyes being less subtle about dipping down his exposed chest. He’d cut her some slack, she’d just woken up and as long as she didn’t mention anything about him poking her in the ass … well he could take some first thing in the morning ogling.

And she was right. Despite his sexual frustration and immense arousal … it had been very nice to wake up wrapped around her. It had felt right, it still felt right as they lay there. She hadn’t moved out of his arms yet and had he mentioned just how close her face was?

Kissably close yes? Okay good, just so everyone was clear.

‘You came to bed drunk too huh?’ Naruto tried for a laugh. He didn’t manage it though. Hadn’t dream-Sakura said the same thing about how she’d come to bed last night?

God help him.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura blushed prettily and her eyes dipped lower down his body, stopping at about his stomach he thought. ‘Me and the girls got a little carried away last night, I’m surprised I don’t have a worse hangover to be honest. How’s your head?’ she asked, reaching out with the back of her hand against his forehead.

_X rated_ he mumbled internally, unable to stop himself watching how her sleep shirt revealed Sakura’s curves to him as she stretched. The hint of a hardened nipple making his still rigid length tremble a little.

He was gonna have to find a way to cover it and rush into a cold shower while Sakura wasn’t looking. She hadn’t said anything about it yet but she had to have seen right? Hell it was damn near impossible to miss. It felt like it was at least.

But her eyes were fixed on his face, the small downturn of her lips as she looked at him, trying to diagnose any possible discomfort in his expression, endearing in a way that made his heart clench and his stomach flutter like a whole horde of butterflies had taken up residence.

The softness of her hand banishing any pain he might have from a hangover into nothingness. He actually didn’t seem to be hungover, groggy maybe but as the back of Sakura’s hand graced his forehead it wiped it away.

And as it moved around his face, cupping his cheek and scratching at the slight bit of stubble, he was suddenly fully aware and she was all he could see. And she was breath-taking.

Which she always had been of course, but it wasn’t just in a physical sense. You didn’t need to be told that, you just had to look at Sakura to see she was fucking gorgeous. Even with bedhead and sleep in her eyes, Sakura Haruno was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known and she always had been.

You could fight him on it.

No she was breath-taking in other ways. The way she touched him, the tenderness and love in it was humbling, he could feel it emanating from her skin and it made him want to ease into her palm. Because he’d long since grown past the point where he doubted Sakura loved him. Maybe not in the way he’d wanted her to but he _knew_ she loved him.

And it was more comforting than anything. He’d known love his entire life, his parents loved him, his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins loved him. His friends loved him. But the way Sakura loved him … there was a _depth_ to it that he couldn’t put into words.

It had sustained him through the toughest moments of his life and when he had lost it briefly during the whole mess with Sasuke in school … it had ached so badly that he would never risk losing it again.

It was why he’d been so adamant to try and move on from her when they were kids. The idea of losing that connection had been so terrifying that even the possibility of actually being hers in the way he wanted to be … it hadn’t been worth gambling on.

Because while he’d admit to having had a crush on her in school, hell they’d joked about it, he’d known it could fuck up the best thing in his life. His friendship with Sakura was more important than fulfilling some teenage fantasy.

But as he looked at her, draped in his old t-shirt, frowning with concern, it was the sense of rightness of the situation that was causing him the most trouble.

The feeling that _this_ was how they were meant to be. Sharing a bed, not just for sex, but as partners, as a unit. He may have been a bit awkward about how aroused he was and his brain was spiralling about his anger and disappointment at where his sex dream had stopped, but it didn’t stop the rightness of waking up in bed with Sakura.

And he honestly didn’t know what to do with that. Because the deep, deep in his belly wish that he could wake up like this every morning wouldn’t go away.

‘I’m fine Sakura,’ Naruto said softly, his skin crying inaudibly as the pinkette drew her hands away from his face. ‘The Uzumaki tolerance strikes again.’

He forced a grin and Sakura blew out a breath in frustrated acknowledgement.

‘Lucky bastard,’ she said without any malice, rolling onto her back and exhaling through her nose. ‘My head feels like a marching band is taking a slow walk through it. Could you get me the painkillers out of my bag?’

Naruto, who was currently fighting the urge to wrap Sakura up in a comforting hug and kiss her forehead better, pulled himself from that image and smiled. ‘Sure, they in the usual place?’

The pinkette rubbed at her forehead gently, staring at the ceiling before closing her eyes slowly and lifting herself up into a sitting position. ‘Yeah, thanks.’

He reached through the covers to squeeze her other hand and she returned the squeeze, blasting him with another dose of the perfect domesticity of their morning, and then he untangled himself from the bedding.

Padding over to their two suitcases, Naruto unzipped the pocket on the outside of Sakura’s case, where she always kept any medication she brought with her.

‘Quietly please Nah … Ruto. Ahem, quietly please yeah?’ Sakura started to hiss but the venom in her words died before she finished his name. Her cheeks flushed as she was decidedly not looking at him when he turned to apologise.

Which was when he remembered two crucial things and he started to blush, the heat spreading all the way down to his toes.

One, he was only in a pair of boxers, the rest of his body, a body formed from decades of exercise and extensive physical activity and then police work, was on full display to Sakura. And the boxers he was wearing weren’t exactly baggy.

And, far more importantly, two, a particular part of his body was _still_ stood to rigid attention and his boxers currently resembled more a tent than underwear. And he wasn’t bragging when he said it was quite a big tent.

Sakura had seen him this undressed before, friends who had a don’t knock policy for bedroom doors soon saw each other in compromising positions, even if Naruto had actually never caught Sakura without at least most of her clothes on by design … Sakura had definitely seen him in just his boxers before.

But she’d never caught him rock hard and having just got out of a bed with _her_ before.

And she had to know he’d been hard when she woke up, even if she wasn’t fully aware. Her ass had been literally squashing his morning erection when she woke up!

Sakura was looking everywhere but him and he could feel the burn of his blush getting worse. ‘Um … sorry Sakura … I …’

‘No. It’s fine!’ she said, a little too quickly and she made herself stare at his face. Just his face, he could see her making herself focus on his eyes. And cus he was doing the same thing, he could see the effort not to stare at … _him_.

And it only made him harder. Because he could have sworn he’d seen desire and oh God was that like pure nitro-glycerine for his horniness.

But he was probably just wishing it there. His embarrassment needing to find a balm in Sakura liking what she was seeing to boost his ego as the rest of him wanted to crawl into a pit and die.

‘It’s just … you know …’

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said, coughing and looking away from him again, shifting under the covers, her arms crossing over her chest. ‘Happens to guys in the mornings sometimes. Perfectly natural. Don’t worry about it, seriously.’

She smiled at him and it managed to relieve some of the discomfort. Her still blushing while doing it stopped _all_ of the discomfort leaving him but it would do.

‘Guess I’d best just go grab a cold shower huh?’ He laughed weakly, actively trying to turn his body to hide his stubborn erection the best he could. He pulled the box of painkillers out of her case so he had an excuse to not look at her but he could feel her eyes on him still.

And he loved it. Damn his horny brain.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura’s laugh was stilted and he heard her shifting in the bed some more. ‘Don’t be embarrassed though Naruto, I’m a doctor remember, I’ve seen more dicks than you ever could.’

They shared an awkward laugh and Naruto wanted to die inside as his brain dared him to ask the million dollar question.

_Do you blush and stare at those ones too Sakura-chan?_

Because she was still blushing. And while being a shred more subtle about it … she was definitely still staring. He even thought he caught her biting her lip.

Cold shower. Cold shower right the fuck now. Otherwise he’d never get through the day.

‘Well, I’ll just leave you these,’ he said, holding up the pack of painkillers and placing them on the edge of the bed. Because it was the closest he could get to her without stepping closer and giving her a better view. ‘And then I’ll handle … this.’

Sakura’s cheeks burned even redder and she let out a shivery giggle and Naruto’s brain screamed.

_WHY THE FUCK DID HE SAY THAT?!_

‘I mean!’ Naruto said, his own cheeks burning harder than Sakura’s and quickly marched to the en-suite bathroom. ‘I’ll take a shower, see you in a bit!’

He could hear Sakura giggling even while shutting and locking the bathroom door and it took all his strength to not collapse into a ball on the floor.

Why did he have to say that? Goddamn him. He may as well have just announced he was gonna jack off, it would have had the exact same effect.

He loathed himself.

‘Okay, okay, calm the fuck down,’ he muttered to himself. Running a hand through his hair, he turned to stare at himself in the massive hotel mirror, it was the kind that damn near took up the whole wall, and was giving him an unescapable image of what Sakura must have seen.

Which was not helping him calm down.

‘Look,’ he murmured so quietly even he wasn’t sure he was actually speaking. ‘She’s a doctor, she’s seen plenty of penises, and she didn’t even actually see _yours_. Just the way it was stretching your boxers. And again, _she’s a doctor_. Have your shower, take a minute and when you go back she’ll probably not even say anything. And it’ll be fine. Okay? Okay.’

The image of Sakura blushing and staring hungrily at his crotch swam across his mind and he growled.

She hadn’t been staring _hungrily_ at his crotch, stupid horny brain.

_You wish she was though …_

‘Shower. Now.’ Naruto ignored his own mind and turned the shower to the coldest setting it could go and threw himself under it.

* * *

Sakura managed to turn her groan of absolute frustration and need into giggles but once she heard Naruto turn on the shower, the groan trickled out.

Her head fell forward on her knees, which she’d pulled up to cover up a very pressing and real problem she’d been having since she’d woken up pressed into Naruto’s almost naked, immensely attractive body.

She was wet as hell and it was only getting worse.

How could a morning that had started so perfectly go to such shit in a matter of … what? Thirty minutes?

‘Kill me now,’ she muttered into her duvet covered knees, squirming in her soaked panties as the movement made them rub uncomfortably. ‘Please.’

Because the bliss of waking up in Naruto’s arms, his lovely, strong arms, with the feel of his heartbeat against her back and his warm breath on her neck, _and_ his hand resting possessively just below her breasts … shouldn’t have ended up here. With her horny and unsatisfied.

No, it shouldn’t have ended here at all. She had several suggestions on where it _should_ have ended but thinking about those would just make her wetter. Which she didn’t need.

She supposed she should count herself lucky that at least Naruto hadn’t noticed how turned the fuck on she was. He couldn’t say the same.

His hard-on could have been seen from space, and her much closer view was partly why she was thanking God she’d packed her nice underwear. The kind she wore for dates or hook ups.

She’d always wondered how blessed her best friend was in that department and her dreams had certainly graced the man with some solidly sized equipment but if that tent was anything to go by … Her dreams weren’t being kind _enough_ to him.

It’d been so big that when she’d woken up with something pressing against her ass, she’d wondered if it was his knee or something.

Though a couple testing wiggles, that she hoped Naruto had mistaken for innocent sleepy fidgeting, had told her that her bed-mate was not _kneeing_ her in the ass.

No, something much more … pleasant was poking at her. His knee wouldn’t have rested between the cleft of her ass cheeks that was for damn sure.

And that had been when her wetness issues had started.

Because _yes_ , morning erections were a perfectly natural thing for people with penises to go through. Totally natural.

Hell, there had been a whole series of lectures dedicated to reproductive and sexual health in her pre-med days that literally explained how perfectly natural it was. How Naruto could have woken up rock hard even if her ass hadn’t been pressed right against his dick.

Didn’t stop her from enjoying her very, very sexy best friend’s aptly named morning glory resting against her ass though. Didn’t stop her wondering if his morning was always that glorious and it certainly didn’t stop her from desperately wishing it was lasting that long because of her.

God, _please_ let it be because of her.

She groaned again and stared longingly at the wall that separated the hotel room from the en-suite bathroom. Where she knew he was currently naked, possibly still hard and maybe half as wet as she was.

Was he ‘handling’ it right now? Would it be worth asking if he needed a hand? She’d come to the bed last night with the plan of seducing him, would it be so much scarier to sneak into the shower and just …

Sakura shook her head and growled at the low pulse that spread through her core. The images of throwing herself, open legs first, at a naked and soapy Naruto not helping her regain the shattered remains of her control.

God, housekeeping were gonna see such a stain on her side of the bed and make all kinds of assumptions about the couple’s nightly activities.

She lifted the covers and inspected the sheet beneath her. Sighing in relief when it appeared it hadn’t gotten that bad, or at least the way she was sat was helping her not leave evidence that could mislead people to thinking she’d actually got some last night.

Instead of just being left soaked and needy because of Naruto’s body continued proximity.

And thank God her oblivious hottie of a best friend hadn’t realised her predicament and had genuinely believed her when she’d claimed to have a hangover. And that she’d had the nous to sleep in one of his baggy t-shirts because if she’d worn a pyjama top that was actually made to fit her … well Naruto would have learned he wasn’t the only pointy one this morning.

She was also rather thankful and at the same time frustrated that he’d not thought to throw on more clothes before climbing out of the bed to get her painkillers.

He had to know he was that hard for fuck’s sake! If she could feel her nipples being hard enough to cut diamond the blond could probably barely notice anything other than the cannon straining against his boxers.

Fuck, she was going to be thinking about that for probably weeks, even if she did find the nerve to make her move still.

But how could he have not noticed how turned on she was? If his stupid, sexy hand had just been a bit higher, he’d have _known_ he was turning her on by just laying there.

Then _he_ could have picked up the hint and made a move and their morning could be spent in much more enjoyable states than him jerking off in a cold shower and her wondering if she had enough time to touch and cover it up before he came out.

‘Should’ve gone to bed naked, gorgeous idiot wouldn’t have been able to resist touching you then,’ she grumbled, her body shifting back in the bed and her head falling against the headboard.

Ugh.

_Yes he would’ve, Naruto would never dare touch you first, he’s too much of a gentleman._

She sighed heavily at the truth of it all and banged her head lightly against the headboard.

Because her brain was right, Naruto could be hornier than a rutting bull in the middle of mating season but unless she gave him permission he wouldn’t so much as rub her side. Which honestly, just made her want him more.

She whined piteously into the air and gave the wall another long look, having to force down the idea to go join him in there even harder than before.

Because she didn’t suffer from such politeness when she was this horny. If he’d been awake last night, he’d have found himself with a drunk and horny Sakura in his lap and before he could have said boo she’d have had her hands down his pants.

Though knowing him, that probably would have still led to her being in her current predicament. Because he’d just think it was the drink and be the perfect gentleman and gently turn her down.

Her beautiful idiot would never buy that she _actually_ wanted to ride him so hard they broke the damn bed. He’d put it down to drink and goading from Ino and Tenten.

Sakura let out a long, deeply frustrated sigh and clutched at her hair with both hands.

Maybe she should take this as a sign? That she shouldn’t make her move on him? Did it mean that while he definitely found her attractive, that he wasn’t actually interested in her that way?

Maybe his morning erection was just there for the natural reasons and then outward factors … like her wiggling ass … that would make any man hard based on pure biology.

Maybe.

_Could always flash him when he comes out the shower?_ Her brain offered, in a surprisingly levelled voice. _Gentleman or not, if he’s interested in you he won’t be able to hide liking your girls with them literally right there._

The idea was tempting, surprisingly tempting, and Ino would be proud of her growth in the whole ‘admitting you’re a sexy bitch Forehead’ department.

But no, that wasn’t the way to go about it. Throwing on the whole seductress routine would work, and she could definitely seduce him. Naruto had always been a boob guy and from a few alcohol fuelled candid conversations with Hinata … she also knew that Naruto _loved_ a forward approach from his partners.

But … best case scenario? Their relationship would start on the purely physical note and then they’d have to have an awkward and possibly upsetting conversation about what it all meant. It would end happily but she’d always regret that their relationship hadn’t started more romantically.

Hard to tell the story of how you got together when the answer was – I jumped him.

And, nightmare, absolutely worst possible scenario? They have sex and then he’d tell her that he wasn’t into her like that and that it had just been sex and let’s move past it … she’d then have to add Naruto to the list of men she wished she hadn’t slept with.

And there was no way in hell she was risking that.

Besides, she was already feeling a bit embarrassed and silly for last night. She almost wished she actually did have a hangover and hadn’t just been faking to get Naruto out of the bed before even his oblivious ass noticed the effect he was having on her.

So no, she’d get her shit together, she’d carry on like this morning was just a funny little joke between the two of them and then later, when she could get him alone and talk to him properly … she would tell him how she felt about him.

How she _really_ felt about him.

Not make a move, not seduce him. Talk to him like an adult and tell him she had feelings for him and that she wanted to be his girlfriend. Please.

_Bitch please you want to be his damn_ wife _._

_Then_ , forcing that thought aside, she could take him to bed and screw his brains out. For as long as she physically could.

Or cry on Ino’s shoulder if he turned her down and at least be comforted with the fact that she’d tried.

Ugh.

Emotions were annoying and she wished she didn’t have them.

Almost as much as she wished she hadn’t ruined the cute panties she had on. She’d have to find a way to put them back in her case without Naruto noticing them.

Because sweet hearted gentleman or not, Naruto had had more than enough occasions to learn how to recognise wet panties. And that would be way harder to explain than the bottle of wine and two glasses she was now noticing were still on the table near the door.

Though, now she was finally able to think straight, or at least not keep focusing on how nice it was to wake up pressed against Naruto, in his lovely warm arms, her ass rubbing against his …

She mentally shook herself and rolled her eyes. Down girl.

She’d just tell him she’d swiped a bottle of wine because she’d been told Naruto was up in the room and wondered if he wanted a nightcap. Which was actually true.

She’d just leave out the part about how she was gonna go from the nightcap to them getting naked.

And if he said anything about it being weird she’d grabbed wine … well she’d remind him of how they’d done exactly the same thing for Neji and Tenten’s wedding when it had been her who had had to go to bed early and he’d shown up with wine and glasses.

He’d been sober and they’d just chilled out in her room, but he’d still come to her room with wine. She was allowed to pretend she was just returning the favour.

Hmmm, it might actually be worth having a word with the front desk to leave the bottle and glasses in their room … it could help with their very important talk later tonight.

While her getting smashed and throwing herself at him would have been unwise, a little liquid courage while she poured her heart out to Naruto wasn’t a _bad_ idea.

Plus it’d be romantic as hell to drink wine with Naruto as an actual couple after the fact.

She smiled as the image of a naked Naruto pouring her wine while they lay in bed together in that post amazing sex glow.

Yeah. Yeah, she liked that idea. She’d aim for the positive, leave the wine in the room, share it with Naruto when he was her new boyfriend and let that become a gloriously blissful memory. One she could revisit every time she remembered how they got together.

That’d be a lot more romantic story to tell and as much as she was _definitely_ including hours of sex into their first night as a couple … it’d be nice to have a strictly sweet and romantic version to tell to people who’d ask how they’d finally got together.

It’d be almost as romantic as all the dates she could imagine them going on. Going to restaurants as an actual couple rather than having to awkwardly explain to enthusiastic wait-staff that they were just friends, or pushy salespeople trying to sell what were clearly gifts for spouses at them not being nearly as embarrassing when they were actually together.

And Kushina, Naruto’s mother, would be overjoyed and Sakura could finally get rid of that last little niggly self-doubt when she was invited to Uzumaki family functions like that was her surname too.

Because no matter how welcoming and lovely Naruto’s family was, and they definitely treated her like part of the family, she always felt just a little bit of … _something_ when they split off in their pairs and yeah … it’d be lovely to be rid of that.

And she didn’t want to get ahead of herself but she couldn’t help but picture their kids running around. A blond boy with her green eyes and mannerisms and Naruto’s good looks sitting next to a bright blue eyed girl with her pink hair and Naruto’s cheeky grin, both of them calling her Mommy.

Sakura was picturing her own parents playing with their kids so thoroughly that she jumped when the bathroom door opened and Naruto, wearing just a towel and dripping sexily all over the place emerged and threw her sweet, romantic thoughts out the window.

Cos goddamn her man looked _good_ wet.

Her brain was doing the homina homina homina thing as he ruffled his hair with a towel and smiled warmly at her. Sakura was only barely paying attention to his face though, water droplets running over his muscled chest and stomach in a path she’d love to follow with her tongue were far too distracting for even his handsome face to hold her attention.

Sakura swallowed as the water droplets trickled into the darkened hair of a snail trail and disappeared into the towel tied firmly at his waist. A towel that, like most hotel towels, was definitely too small for a stallion of a man like Naruto Uzumaki.

What had she said about how throwing herself at him was a bad idea? What had she been smoking when she’d said that? If she could move, she’d already have her thighs wrapped round his damn head.

Unluckily for her though, she … um, _couldn’t_ move right now. Her legs had turned to jelly and were staying that way as he continued to towel off in front of her.

‘Sorry for taking so long Sakura, shower’s free now,’ he said, walking over to his suitcase and turning away from her. ‘How’s your head? Good?’

She caught herself, when had she leant forwards? And coughed to clear her throat.

And instead of saying something along the lines of ‘very good, come here and let me show you,’ she managed to act like an actual mature adult woman and not a horny teenager.

No matter how loud her brain was screaming ‘Come to Mama’ at him.

‘Better actually, it seemed to fade on its own, guess I don’t need to be as jealous of your tolerance as I thought,’ she said, feeling lamer than she thankfully sounded. ‘Let me just grab a shower and we’ll head down for breakfast kay?’

Naruto made a noise of acknowledgement and while his back was still turned … it was Sakura’s turn to slink into the bathroom, his shirt pulled down low over her thighs to hide the renewed dampness between her legs.

‘Well be quick,’ he called, with a chuckle as she heard both their phones start to ding with morning notifications. ‘If we’re too late you know they’ll come looking for us and Ino definitely won’t stay outside. And if she catches you in _those_ panties and _my_ shirt while I’m in just a towel … well whatever will she think?’

Sakura blushed scarlet, down to her toes, and found that said toes, and the rest of her feet suddenly decided they didn’t want to work. They, like the rest of her very curious body, wanted desperately to know exactly what Naruto thought others would think about them being almost naked and together.

Stupid, sexy Naruto, with his saying stupid, sexy hot things and not actually being her boyfriend yet. So she couldn’t go over and smack him on his gorgeous ass for being so dirty minded.

And then pounce on him and show him she could be dirtier. So much dirtier.

He turned and their eyes locked for a second, until he gave her a playful wink and shooed her into the bathroom before going back to his suitcase.

It wasn’t until she was under the glorious warmth of the water that she came up with a suitably sexy comeback.

‘“Suppose you should just come take it back then huh Naruto?”’ she mumbled to herself, fluttering her eyelashes at the shower head, making her voice lower and throatier until she caught what she was doing and shook her head. ‘No … maybe … “Oh no, guess I’d best take it off right away!” yeah that would be good.’

Ugh, why hadn’t she just said that? Either of them would have been hot as fuck! And maybe she could have moved the conversation to getting him to come join her in a _much_ longer shower.

Wait, wasn’t she meant to be calming that shit down? Planning a romantic confession and first time for later tonight instead of thinking of good come-hither lines?

But they were really _good_ come-hither lines though!

Stupid, sexy Naruto with his stupid, sexy flirting. Making her want to be equally sexy and flirty and actively stopping her from being able to be.

Whatever, she’d just have to save them for later and hope he set her up that perfectly again or something.

Hell, if tonight went the way she hoped … she’d probably be able to use both of them later. You know, before all the sex they were definitely going to have. All night long.

Wrapping herself in that toe-curling thought, Sakura pushed her hair back and leant back under the spray of water, groaning happily as it washed all the way through her locks and she pretended the water moving over her body was instead Naruto’s hands and lips and sighed happily.

She tried not to wonder just what Naruto had been doing in there for so long earlier, her hands drifting over the planes of her body, mimicking where she wanted him to touch her.

She failed though, and she couldn’t care less as ‘his’ hand delved lower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you guys thought I was mean to Sakura lol. Least her dream didn't literally stop at the ... point of entry so to speak.
> 
> Yes, I do find myself funny, thanks for asking lol.
> 
> But for real guys, it's getting spicy up in here isn't it? Can't wait to see what comes next, it's gonna be bloody awesome.


	8. Pining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle in guys, this is a long chapter. You've been warned.

Sakura was exceptionally grateful for many aspects of her and Naruto’s relation – _friendship_ – she shouldn’t get ahead of herself. But yeah, there were lots of things about their friendship she was thankful for.

The inherent ease in each other’s company for a start.

There was just a comfort in being in each other’s presence that Sakura had never felt with anyone else. Even the comfort she felt being with her parents or with Ino wasn’t the same. They were all good but there was just something special about the comfort Naruto gave her just by being there.

He felt like home.

He also did lovely things without thinking about it. Like how he’d moved her suitcase to her side of the bed, ready for her to pick out her clothes for the day, while she’d been in the shower. It was sweet and considerate. It also meant she didn’t have to try and keep her towel from falling entirely in front of him while pulling her case over.

Which would have been one way to ruin the calm they’d apparently managed.

Their ability to be silent together without it being awkward was another gift. Especially when even after a long, long shower that she had enjoyed so thoroughly her knees were a little wobbly, seriously, she’d probably left an ass print against the tile she’d leant against it so hard, she’d still had to come out and towel off with him in the room.

He’d been the perfect gentleman the entire time, even when she’d tried to get his head to turn at least once or twice, specifically when she was brushing out her hair in front of a mirror. He had a thing for long hair.

And then again when she’d ‘accidentally’ let her towel drop to reveal her still wet breasts. Which was different than her just suddenly being naked and wet in front of him.

That would have been embarrassing, her being in just a towel and having her wet breasts out would have been sexy.

…

It would!

…

Look, Naruto was a boob guy, she had what she thought were quite nice breasts and even if she had sated the need to jump him in the immediate … she’d got to ogle his barely covered dick, she felt like he deserved a bit of a show. It was only fair.

And you know, if him seeing her topless had led to him having to do something about that … well. Yum.

But he hadn’t turned, he’d not even glanced in her direction. Hell he’d gone to the other side of the rather large suite they’d wound up in. She hadn’t realised just how big the bedroom was last night but she was pretty sure you could fit both her and Naruto’s bedrooms in this room and still have enough space for a three piece sofa.

Which funnily enough there was, tucked over in the corner facing an old-fashioned TV. Which Naruto was sat watching while she changed. And also why he’d not been distracted by her towel dropping, because he was being sweet and polite.

It was also another blast of domesticity for their morning now she thought about it. Taking turns in the shower, him sitting waiting for her to get ready to go down with her. Like he couldn’t have just headed down for breakfast, that he _had_ to wait for her. You know … like you wait for a girlfriend or a wife.

Fuck she wanted him.

Though him being distracted by the TV, which he had on low as not to bother her in case she still had a headache, had she mentioned how annoyingly perfect he was? Had at least given her the chance to deposit her ruined panties in her case without having to worry about him seeing.

Though, him clearly admiring her panties earlier had told her she was on the right track on her choice of underwear. The look on his face when he’d mentioned them was giving her all kinds of yummy feelings thank you very much.

She kept those feelings while she dressed for the day. Making sure to put on an especially nice pair of panties and matching bra as quickly as possible. Because yes, she was going to be romantic about telling him she loved him later … she also wanted him eating out of her palm when he saw the Victoria’s Secret underwear she’d bought with a gift card from Ino on her birthday.

She sighed happily at her reflection, taking a moment to admire herself.

It was a habit she’d had to force herself to make, after way too many years of not being happy with how she looked, despite knowing she was a good-looking woman, she made a point of taking the time to revel when she got the chance.

She wished she could go back in time and tell her fourteen year old self that by the time she hit her mid-twenties she’d finally like her body in the mirror. Not because she looked like a supermodel or because some guy had liked how she looked.

But because letting go off that self-loathing and need to fit some stupid expectation, like with Sasuke damn near demanding she be skinny to the point that she barely ate, would allow her to fully enjoy her own body. And enjoy wearing cute clothes that fit her and complimented her figure. She’d never have had the nerve to buy sexy underwear if she hadn’t learned to love herself.

Which was a shame because she really liked how this set looked on her. The light pink matched her hair and worked with the tone of her skin beautifully. The panties covered her tastefully and the bra gave her the support she needed all the while still looking like if you pulled it lightly it’d come off in your hand. And giving you a nice eyeful without making her feel naked while wearing it.

Yes, she looked damn sexy in her sexy undies, and God how she loved that she was able to enjoy that fact.

Like she hoped Naruto would later. And again tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that and then … well then she’d have to go buy more because she’d have run out but you got where she was going.

‘You okay Sakura?’ Said man asked without turning around, breaking her out of her fantasises.

‘Yeah!’ Sakura said quickly, he’d been so quiet she’d almost forgot he was there.

His phone chirruped on the couch next to him and he groaned. ‘Best hurry,’ he said, still not looking her way thankfully. ‘Shikamaru’s texting me asking where the hell we are. Bet your phone is about to explode with Ino doing the same. Oh, and he’s telling us to dress for activity.’

Sakura raised an eyebrow at that and eyed her suspiciously silent phone. Because she _hadn’t_ gotten any messages from any of the girls. She’d been expecting to wake up to a phone full of texts or message alerts across all the apps the girls chatted through. But she hadn’t gotten any. At all.

Weird.

She was just putting on a dark red t-shirt when what Naruto had said registered. ‘Activity? Did he say what we’re doing?’

Naruto shook his head and tapped his phone hurriedly. ‘No, but I’m surprised we’re doing anything at all. When I left the pool last night Kiba was barely able to stand and the rest weren’t much better. Sai was only just holding onto his drink.’

They shared a chuckle as Sakura pulled up a pair of black jeans. ‘I bet Ino was disappointed Sai wasn’t fit to do anything last night but we both know that wouldn’t stop her.’

Naruto, _still_ not turning to look at her the absolute babe, laughed sharply and grinned. ‘No, she’d have just lain him on his back and gone to town if she wanted to. Hell possibly to spite him for getting in the way of her daily lay.’

‘She’s not that bad,’ Sakura chided him half-heartedly. ‘Besides, would you turn down daily sex? I sure as hell wouldn’t.’

There was a pregnant pause where the only sound was the TV and Sakura’s brain screaming quietly. But she stomped down the urge to take that one back.

Because no, fuck it, they’d been having these kind of conversations about sex ever since they’d gotten past the ‘talking about sex is awkward’ stage of being teenagers. That was not changing now just because … well because hopefully _they’d_ be the ones having daily sex starting tonight.

Naruto didn’t seem to notice the tenseness in the pause though and just shrugged and laughed. ‘No, I suppose not. Besides, didn’t you tell me she’s been trying to encourage him to be more comfortable with sex? Exposure therapy or something? That’s what her PHD was about right?’

Another tension loosening shared laugh and Sakura walked over to stand behind him on the sofa.

She flicked his ear and ruffled his hair. ‘Like you even read her paper, you just wanted to make your dirty joke seem classier.’

He leant his head back, his soft and fluffy hair tickling her tummy slightly as it rubbed against her shirt and he grinned playfully up at her.

It was adorable and it made her want to kiss him. Badly.

‘Hey, I read,’ Naruto pouted, his hand reaching up to poke at her side, adding more tickliness to her morning. ‘Don’t start that stereotypical shit of me being a dumb cop who just reads crappy newspapers and eats donuts.’

She swallowed a quick giggle as his finger wiggled against her rib. ‘Naruto!’

He went to tickle her side again, bringing his other four fingers to bear and gave her that sexy foxy grin he got sometimes. The one that made her want to rip off her clothes and jump him. God she loved that grin.

But she smacked his hand away. Because she’d _just_ calmed down damn it and didn’t need to get worked up at his fingers on her okay?

She gave him a playful scowl and a warning finger point when he winked at her and shoved his head forward gently. ‘No. You ready for breakfast?’

Naruto, who was still grinning, flicked off the TV and, while scooping up his phone, bounded to his feet in one fluid motion. ‘Yup.’

Sakura smiled fondly at him and picked up her phone from the nightstand on her side of the bed. Still no messages from Ino. Huh.

‘Shika get back to you about what he meant yet?’ Sakura asked as they made their way out of the room. Sakura slipping on her flats while Naruto got the door.

‘Nah,’ Naruto said, peering at his phone before checking himself over quickly. ‘If what we’re wearing now isn’t suitable we’ll just have to make do or something. I look alright yeah?’

She eyed him up and down and tried not to enjoy it too much. But damn, even in a pair of faded light blue jeans and his old Konoha U black t-shirt with the orange swirl on the shoulders, Naruto looked hot.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said, poking him in the chest and letting her fingers drag down a little. She just about resisted the urge to pull on his collar. ‘I wouldn’t kick you out of bed, that’s for sure,’ she said bravely.

His cheeks went a little red as she took the moment to stride through the open door and smirk as it took him a couple moments to remember he was meant to be following her.

 _Yeah, not the only one who can flirt Uzumaki,_ she chuckled to herself, throwing in a little sway of her hips when she could feel his eyes on her waist.

Where they apparently dipped to her ass sometime before she turned and caught him. He blushed harder and smiled apologetically.

‘Sorry Sakura,’ he said, getting redder by the second and something inside Sakura purred. ‘Those are just very nice jeans.’

‘Uh huh,’ she said with a raised eyebrow. ‘It’s the jeans you like.’

He grinned weakly and she just about melted when he said: ‘Well I can’t just say nice ass, can I Sakura-chan?’

_Oh yes the fuck you can!_

The purr in the back of her head turned into a growl and she poked him in the chest. ‘You’re only getting away with that because of earlier, you know that right?’

‘Yes ma’am,’ he said cheekily with an equally cheeky grin.

She wanted to kiss it off his sexy face.

‘Okay then, let’s go have breakfast,’ she said, forcing the giddiness out of her voice as she turned around. Letting it spill across her face when he couldn’t see.

Because the second she’d turned her back … his eyes were back on her ass. Where as far as she was concerned they’d best stay.

Which they did, all the way down the corridor and into the elevator.

She just about resisted the urge to skip.

Just.

* * *

The dining room of Deer Cottage was decked out in much the same way as the rest of the hotel common areas were.

Rustic stained wood panels, lighter than the entrance hall was as to better reflect the light coming in from the big floor to ceiling windows. One massive pane of glass making up the majority of the window and then four little squares with swirls melded on taking up the top corners, making the sunlight refract and light up the room in the day.

A giant chandelier hung in the middle, the expansive room tall enough to accommodate it without some poor tall person cracking their head on it, and several smaller, but equally fancy chandeliers were dotted around the ceiling to bathe the room in light.

The floor was mostly carpeted in a rich green colour with patterns reminiscent of the Nara clan’s insignia and some very delicately woven images of deer sat in the middle of every four insignias. The part of the floor that wasn’t carpet was instead very expensive linoleum made to look like wood panelling and was set off to the middle back of the room, currently covered up by a roll of carpet but by the time for the reception, that would be removed and that would be where the majority of the dancing would take place for Shikamaru and Temari’s wedding.

There were an assortment of tables, old oak ones that matched the colour of the wall, all around the room. Mostly big enough to fit four people to a table but there were some six and eight person tables and a smattering of two person tables as well.

Off to the side of the room, near one of the many windowed walls was a long table, so long Sakura had first thought it was two put together. This was the table where food and drinks were lain out for breakfast, with a couple of members of staff waiting by to assist guests.

The two younger men, almost boys really, and one slightly older than Sakura woman stood by idly and chatted amongst themselves. They didn’t need to be very active with today’s crowd. The only real thing they had to do was restock the trays with freshly cooked food for breakfast and replenish cartons of juice and teas or coffees.

‘Oh thank God,’ Naruto said from beside her, nudging Sakura with his arm playfully. ‘I thought you’d taken so long in the shower doing whatever you were doing we’d miss breakfast.’

Sakura blushed slightly and shouldered him in the side but smiled. ‘Shush, besides you took just as long as I did, don’t throw stones Naruto. Or maybe I’ll start to wonder what took _you_ so long.’

The blond’s face went a little red too and he chuckled. ‘Touché, well come on, let’s eat, I’m starving.’

Her stomach rumbled in agreement. ‘Heh, sure, but you go first, I don’t need you staring at my ass again. You know like you did all the way here.’

The blond didn’t blush this time though, he only gave her a sly smirk, which sent shivers of barely restrained delight down her spine. He leant down so his lips were by her ear and his warm breath tickled her skin, making that delight tingle just a little more as it reached her belly.

‘If you didn’t want me to stare, why did you sway your hips like that?’ He purred, his lips so close she could almost feel them on her neck. Now there was a thought. ‘How does the saying go? The lady doth protest too much?’

Eep.

Sakura coughed, covering her blush as Naruto lifted back up to his full height. ‘Since when are you quoting Shakespeare? Nerd.’

Naruto just winked at her and nudged her in the lower back – just above her ass the tease! – So she jumped and had to cover an actual ‘eep’ as he passed her to get to the food table.

Sakura glanced around the room to see if anyone had been watching them and felt her stomach drop as she found two very intent, immeasurably pleased pair of eyes watching her from one of the six person tables.

Tenten and Ino were staring at her with smiles on their faces that told her they’d seen everything and were making a point of gesturing at the two empty chairs at the table. The two empty chairs in the middle of the table, where Sakura would be flanked by Ino and Tenten and Naruto would be flanked by Neji and Sai.

And lucky Naruto the two men looked to be barely awake as they just shovelled food into their faces and drank copious amounts of water and juice.

She watched their eyes track from her to Naruto and both of their faces lit up with smug satisfaction as they somehow waggled their eyebrows in unison. And suddenly Sakura knew why she hadn’t woken up to dozens of messages from her friends.

They hadn’t wanted to interrupt. Because the last those two knew, Sakura had gone up to ‘get her man’ and was now clearly on the receiving end of some very playful flirting. Almost couply flirting

Which she was thoroughly enjoying by the way. He hadn’t just been staring at her ass the entire way down from their room, the tease of a man had been making very flattering comments about the way she was dressed and how nice her hair looked post shower.

They’d been flirting pretty much with every breath, it was just coming out of her over and over and she couldn’t stop herself. And with every extra bit of flirting, Naruto always met it and while it was probably playing with fire … if he kept coming back at her, she sure as hell wasn’t going to stop it.

There had been one particular line about how he’d always liked how she looked wet that had left her reeling and her mouth had fallen open. He’d immediately made a point of correcting himself by saying he just thought her hair looked nice wet. But she hadn’t been fooled. He’d gotten that little smirk he always got when he was messing around and it was equal parts hot and smug.

‘Sorry Sakura,’ Naruto had said with that kissable cheeky grin of his. ‘I misspoke, I just like how your hair looks when it’s drying, it’s pretty.’

Sure he did, sexy prick.

But Naruto wasn’t the only one who could play like that and Sakura had made a point of stopping and sighing before muttering about her shoelace being untied.

Then she’d bent at the waist so quickly that Naruto had nearly crashed crotch first into her ass.

He’d managed to manoeuvre around her and when she’d looked up at his alarmed shout she’d made sure the angle he now had on her let him get an eyeful of her cleavage. So now Naruto also knew exactly what kind of bra she was wearing.

Victory had tasted sweet and remained tasting sweet as Naruto had gone red and also lost the ability to speak a little as she’d come back to her full height with an exaggerated bounce and she crowed internally as his eyes followed the bounce of certain parts of her.

Dumb babe should never have let her know he was a boob guy.

‘Hey Sakura?’ Naruto asked, pulling her from her reverie and she realised she’d just been kind of staring into the middle distance. ‘You okay?’

All teasing and play-flirting left his face as he looked genuinely concerned. Like he was worried he’d gone too far or something and it just made him so cute and vulnerable. She just wanted to cuddle him up right there but she settled for a smile and a pat of his arm.

‘Yeah, was just thinking, could you get me some food?’ Sakura said quietly and jerked her head in the direction of Ino and Tenten, who were still staring. Their grins having gotten somehow even larger. ‘I think I’d best go do some damage control on those two idiots.’

Naruto followed her head and sighed. ‘Yeah, sure Sakura, I’ll be right over, orange juice and all.’

‘You’re a babe,’ she said and tried not to let it show how much it pleased her that he didn’t even need to ask what she’d want for breakfast.

He was perfect and she was so going to make him hers.

But first …

Ino and Tenten had the good grace to not say anything until she was within speaking range. Didn’t stop them from leaning on their hands with smiles that wouldn’t let the proverbial butter melt.

‘Hey Sakura,’ Ino said, stretching the first word like a teenage girl about to gossip would, not a fully licensed psychotherapist. God she was so childish sometimes. ‘And how did you _sleep_ last night?’

‘Fine thank you,’ Sakura said pointedly staring at the two men who’d barely made so much as a grunt in her general direction. ‘How about you guys?’

Tenten shrugged and reached over to stroke Neji’s hair, he glanced up and winced in the light. ‘Well enough, someone needed a bit of carrying back to bed but we slept okay, didn’t we hon?’

‘Yes dear.’ Neji smiled weakly and he nodded at Sakura carefully. ‘Your boyfriend is a bad winner by the way.’

Neji went back to scarfing down breakfast as his wife smiled fondly at him. ‘I’m sure if you asked Naruto nicely he’d give you back your money babe,’ she said with a rueful chuckle.

Sakura rolled her eyes and made a mental note to ask Naruto what he remembered about the guys’ night. At a guess though she assumed the morons had tried to play a cop at poker and thought they’d win.

She’d played poker with Naruto before, as well as strip poker but he’d held back in that game, because you know, he was perfect and a gentleman.

They’d play strip poker just the two of them after the weekend. She’d show him what she did to gentlemen. And _for_ them.

She shoved that fun thought to the side, along with the other ones their morning flirt had gifted her with. It was developing into quite the pile.

But yes, she’d played poker with Naruto before, you didn’t so much try to beat him, you tried to hold on as long as you could and pray he went after someone else’s chips first.

Tenten was right though, if Neji asked, he’d get his money back. Or at least he would after Sakura had insisted he do it. Because while no one seemed able to actually make Naruto do things he didn’t want to … Sakura could at least get him to reconsider.

You know the more she thought about stuff like that the more she started to wonder if their friends weren’t onto something with the whole ‘Naruto’s wife’ thing.

‘And what about you Sakura?’ Ino asked, her arms crossed and possibly the smuggest smile Sakura had ever seen on the woman’s face ever. ‘Did Naruto have anything to give to _you_?’

Tenten guffawed as Sakura ignored the innuendo. She’d normally have blushed but after all of the flirting … she was kinda blushed out.

But she knew Ino was going to keep pushing til she got answers. She’d want information as a reward for not interrupting whatever she thought her and Naruto had been up to. Though she supposed, after years of explicit texts about what Ino thought her and her oblivious idiot should be doing … she could probably have guessed at a few things Ino’s sex obsessed brain came up with.

There was no way in hell she was being interrogated in front of the men at the table though. Neji probably wouldn’t say anything but she couldn’t trust Sai not to blab to Naruto. And the last thing her plan for tonight needed was for Sai to ruin it with some oblivious question that gave the game away to Naruto.

Sakura tried to convey her concerns about Sai and Neji to the girls and mercifully they appeared to get it.

‘Hey babe?’ Ino said, reaching out to squeeze her boyfriend’s hand, making the half-asleep man jerk away and smile in that absent way he did sometimes. ‘Hey, you’ve have something to eat like I asked, you can go lie down for a bit if you like? Okay?’

Sai looked like he’d been thrown a life vest in the middle of a roaring ocean and nodded with relief. ‘Thank you,’ he croaked.

The pale man lifted carefully from the table and dragged himself out of the dining room, wandering presumably in the direction of the elevators and his bed.

‘What the hell did you do to him?’ Sakura asked bemusedly. The poor man had never looked so dazed, he’d barely even paused to give her a look in greeting. Granted given _how_ Sai sometimes said hello, with some blunt observation that was remarkably rude, she supposed him just walking away wasn’t so bad.

Ino rolled her eyes and snorted. ‘Nothing, poor man was too off his face once we got back to the room. Would have felt rapey to do anything to him at that point. Plus, he’d probably have fallen asleep midway and that’s just not happening.’

Huh. She and Naruto owed Ino an apology. Turned out she wouldn’t get hers at any cost. Guess that just proved how much she liked the guy. Which was sweet.

‘So …’ Ino started, her smile turning practically vulpine. ‘What did _you_ –’

Panic filled Sakura as she shot a sharp look at Neji’s back and Ino rolled her eyes. Thankfully Tenten got the memo.

‘Hon?’ Tenten said, her tone sweet enough to give you cavities.

Neji sighed heavily and without saying a word, he picked up his plate and glass of juice and walked away from the table. The grumbling starting once he was far enough away from the table that Tenten would have to throw things at him to tell him off.

‘You have got to teach me how to do that,’ Ino said with an impressed gleam in her eyes, Sakura slipping into one of the freshly emptied chairs earning a flicker of annoyance across the blonde’s face.

Like she was actually going to put herself between the two of them, what did she think she was? An idiot?

‘Later,’ Tenten chuckled. ‘But now the men are gone, and before yours shows up Saks, spill.’

She could even bolster the nerve to retort that Naruto wasn’t her man. Even though he technically wasn’t. Yet.

Emphasis on yet.

But first she had to get through the ribbing and exasperation of her friends.

‘Okay look,’ Sakura started, unable to meet either of their eyes and grit her teeth. ‘Nothing happened last night.’

‘Oh _come_. _ON!_ ’ Ino all but screamed at her from across the table, drawing attention from all around them. The woman glanced around to see a roomful of eyes on her and her cheeks developed a hint of pink but all it did was lower the volume. ‘What else have I got to fucking do Sakura? I got you two stuck sharing a room, I told you what he’d said about wanting you recently, I even got the bottle of wine for you to go up and seduce him with! What have I got to do to get you to _fuck your_ _goddamn boyfriend_?’

Sakura actually shied away from her best friend’s angry glare and looked to Tenten beseechingly. The brunette had always been more understanding of Sakura’s predicament and while no less encouraging or insistent on making a move on Naruto … she’d always been nicer about her insistence.

And thank merciful God, today was no different.

‘Alright Ino,’ Tenten said quietly, patting the seething woman on the shoulder. ‘Take a mental lap and come back. What actually happened Sakura?’ She asked, turning to Sakura with an understanding expression.

‘And it better be damn good,’ Ino grumbled, crossing her arms and looking more and more like a grumpy toddler the longer she was sat there. ‘Otherwise I’m literally locking you in the room and playing porn music at your door until I hear bedsprings and moans.’

‘Ino!’ Sakura hissed, her cheeks burning, glancing over at the table with breakfast stuff, where Naruto was stood having a lengthy conversation with an frustrated looking Shikamaru.

‘Quiet blondie,’ Tenten said with an exasperated sigh. ‘Go on Sakura.’

‘Well I went up last night, fully prepared to you know, seduce him and everything, but when I got to the room … he was already asleep.’

‘Then you should have woken him up,’ Ino said, unforgivingly. ‘You two had things to do and I have not spent the best part of a decade making this happen for you to chicken out because he’s a heavy sleeper.’

‘I tried! I even shook him and tried to kiss him awake! I tried everything!’ Sakura complained, gesturing imploringly at Ino. ‘But like you said, wouldn’t it have been weird if I’d woken him up when he was still drunk and jumped him? Not like he’d be able to consent right?’

Both women bobbed their heads, granted Ino did it more reluctantly than Tenten.

‘So what?’ Ino glowered at her. ‘You’re gonna hem and haw and not tell him how you feel? Again.’

Sakura bristled at that and glared back at her friend. ‘Bite me Pig,’ she said harshly. ‘I didn’t say I was giving up, I’m just coming at it in a different way. So shut up for once and let me tell you what happened this morning okay?’

Ino looked a little taken aback but she smirked a little as she acknowledged what she’d said. Or maybe it was just the fact that when Sakura was remembering the morning she felt a phantom throb against her ass and blushed.

‘So something did happen this morning?’ Ino asked, her anger evaporating as curiosity twinkled in her eyes. ‘Please tell me skin was involved.’

She groaned in frustration and looked to Tenten again, but this time she was only met with equal curiosity from her normally more sensible friend.

‘Spill Saks,’ the brunette pushed over a cup of tea, her eyes glinting with amusement. ‘Spare no details.’

The pinkette glanced around for anyone who might be eavesdropping, and making sure Naruto was still distracted and leant in closer. ‘Okay so, you know how guys sometimes wake up with erections?’

‘The most rideable kind yeah.’ Ino grinned naughtily. Before something sparked in her eyes and her grin got bigger. ‘Ahhhh, so Naruto’s morning was glorious huh?’

Sakura blushed but couldn’t help the small smile trickle over her face. ‘It’s perfectly natural and it doesn’t mean anything …’

‘Uh huh,’ Tenten said with her saucy smirk. ‘Ass or back Saks?’

‘Huh?’ Sakura said eloquently.

‘We all know Naruto’s a cuddly sleeper,’ Ino said with a downright demonic grin on her face. ‘We’ve all seen the pictures of it and you’ve experienced it more than anyone so … was his glorious morning pressed against your ass or your back?’

Sakura looked between both women, their deeply amused, almost giddy expressions getting closer as they leant in over the table.

Oh God, why had she ever even said anything?

‘Ass,’ she murmured, her face burning ever hotter. ‘I thought it might be his knee at first as well and when I tried to move …’

‘Oh my God,’ Ino damn near wheezed to cover her giggle. ‘You wiggled your ass against his dick! Bet that felt all kinds of hot huh Forehead?’

‘Ino …’ Sakura dragged out her friends name and looked at her beseechingly.

Because there was not enough alcohol in the world that would make Sakura tell Ino that she’d enjoyed the feeling so much she could still feel his erection pressed against her ass right now. And that it was _distracting_.

‘Wait,’ Tenten said with a thoughtful expression on her face. She turned to Ino and her grin got somehow even bigger. ‘Doesn’t Naruto also kinda typically sleep in just his boxers?’

Both women turned back to stare at Sakura with matching evil smirks that made her want to run the fuck away.

‘That’s right,’ Ino said, her tone promising all kinds of teasing for Sakura’s immediate future. Which she did not appreciate thank you. ‘And you tend to sleep in just a pair of panties and one of his shirts, you know, despite you constantly denying how married the pair of you are.’

‘They’re just comfy and he doesn’t mind, shut up,’ Sakura groused back and suddenly found herself wishing Naruto would hurry up with their breakfasts now. She needed the distraction.

‘And I made sure you were wearing sexy undies last night … so what you’re telling us Forehead, is that your morning started with the only thing between your bare ass and his hard dick was his boxers and your frilly panties?’

…

…

…

Well now that she’d stopped to think about that again she was all kinds of turned on. Which she didn’t need right now. She needed to not be thinking about Naruto’s manhood while she ran her plan for the day by her friends.

Which was what she should have just started with instead of ever mentioning her morning.

Stupid Sakura, stupid, stupid, stupid.

‘Yes,’ Sakura whispered after the continued staring from her friends didn’t let up.

‘And you’re turned on as fuck just thinking about it aren’t you?’ Ino pressed gleefully, Tenten covering a laugh badly with sipping her water.

‘ _Yes_.’ No point lying about it, hell, it might even get Ino to help her with her plan all the more. The blonde almost made it her mission in life to get her friends laid as often as she could. Sakura was actually surprised Ino hadn’t become a sex therapist to be honest. ‘Now shut up and let me tell you about the rest of the morning okay?’

Ino and Tenten looked ecstatically at her. It was reminiscent of when they’d been in school and they’d talked about all the awkward flirting and encounters between her and Naruto before Sasuke and Hinata had happened.

There’d been more than enough planning on how to get her to make a move on Naruto back then, granted it had been a harder sell and way more theoretical. And while Naruto was dating Hinata it just flat out stopped.

Shippers on deck Tenten and Ino may have always been … but Hinata was their friend too and to actually plan Naruto and Sakura getting together would have been outright wrong and shitty to the nth degree.

But through university, when Naruto _and_ Sakura had been single … oh there had been damn near daily planning some weeks.

‘There’s more?’ Ino whispered reverently.

Boy was there.

Sakura laid out the rest of the morning to the girls, dancing over her alone time in the shower and focusing way more on the flirting between the two of them and the way that his hands on her sides had felt and the way she’d felt when he’d been playfully threatening to tickle her.

The girls grinned knowingly at that point but thankfully didn’t tease her. What was revealed during drunken Truth or Dare stayed between them, that was the only way they’d gotten basically anyone except Ino willing to open up about stuff.

And while there was some teasing about what was revealed, Ino had never missed a chance to tease her over a particular fantasy including her, Naruto and his handcuffs but some things didn’t get teased about.

One of those things being how much Sakura enjoyed being tickled. It was a lot. Don’t judge.

And by the time Sakura had finished recounting the morning and telling the girls her plan … both women were smirking and promising to help any way they could … Naruto was showing up with breakfast at long last and they immediately changed the topic to something less … confessional.

Which was a relief, because if Naruto had just been a couple minutes earlier he’d have heard Ino ask what undies Sakura was wearing.

And Sakura’s answer.

Because at that point the girls were actually helping and well … a little reassurance that she’d look sexy in just her underwear was warranted. She’d maybe been getting a little nervous about actually confessing and she’d be even more nervous if it went well and it got down to the point where clothes were coming off …

Look, bounds and strides of improvement on her self-confidence and opinions on her appearance were all well and good but … she _needed_ to be the sexiest thing he’d ever seen tonight okay?

It was important.

Shut up.

‘Morning girls,’ Naruto said as he reached the table, glancing at three empty chairs and easing Sakura’s plate down in front of her before placing his own in the place next to hers.

She didn’t know why that made her tummy flutter but it did.

Maybe because he’d filled her plate with all her favourite kind of breakfast food and placed a perfectly cooled glass of orange juice in front of her. With the kind of certainty in his choices that he didn’t even ask if it was okay what he’d picked.

Because he didn’t need to ask. He knew.

God, he really was her husband damn it.

_I mean, give us a couple years and he actually will be …_

And that giddy little thought made her smile just as much as him bumping her arm with his as he slid into the seat next to her.

‘There’s more hash browns and sausages coming out by the way,’ Naruto said with a smile. ‘Sorry I took so long, Shikamaru finally explained what he’d meant by dress for activity and then Yoshino came over to ask if my parents were still coming … and then Gaara came over to check how I was doing after last night.’

‘Popular guy,’ Tenten chuckled. ‘Did my darling husband pester you about money yet?’

Naruto’s eyes went a little steely and he smirked. It was hot.

‘He tried, I told him to not be bitter about sucking at poker,’ Naruto said as he sipped on his own juice. His eyes went soft again when he looked at Tenten with a dash of concern. ‘Do you need me to give it back?’

And that, right there, was yet another reason why she loved the gorgeous man. The second the merest idea that someone might actually need his help, he was there in a heartbeat.

God, it made her want to kiss him even more than usual when he was that sweet.

It’d been hard enough not to kiss him on the cheek when he’d put her breakfast in front of her like he’d made it himself. Because that was what she’d normally do as a little thank you, it was so reflexive at this point it didn’t even get a flicker out of either of them.

But if she’d done that right now the girls would have ripped them apart.

Besides, there’d be plenty of time for it later. And for much less chaste kissing too.

‘Nah,’ Tenten waved off and chuckled. ‘Unlike him I budgeted him losing all his money into the expenses this month. Don’t let him talk you into it, he needs to learn not to try and beat _you_ at poker.’

Naruto’s smile turned a little smug. And damn it all that was hot too.

‘Alright, but if it turns out you do need it, you know where I am.’ Naruto lifted a bit of bacon to his mouth and chewed. Sakura watched him out of one eye because she couldn’t stop herself.

Ino caught her and grinned knowingly before kicking her gently under the table.

She scowled back at her and returned focusing on her breakfast. The perfect breakfast he’d gotten her. Because he was perfect and lovely and God she wanted to take him back to the room and …

No, plan. There was a plan. She had a plan. It was a good plan. That other stuff would come later. After the plan.

‘By the way Sakura,’ Naruto said after swallowing down more breakfast. ‘We’re gonna have to go back to the room after breakfast and get out of these clothes.’

Sakura had enough time to register what he’d said and the shocked delight in Ino’s face before the entire world crashed to a screaming halt and was replaced with all the X-rated images filling her head while she tried to work through it.

‘Ummmm,’ Sakura said as the computer of her mind slowly reset itself. ‘Okay?’

Cos he had to mean something other than … well what he was literally saying. He had to be being accidentally too blunt and mean something else.

Right?

Was it okay she kinda hoped not?

‘Yeah,’ Naruto said, she thought she caught the hint of a blush in his cheeks but it was gone as quick as snow on a hot summer day. ‘Shikamaru and Temari have a massive thing planned for the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Told me if I didn’t want to wreck my clothes I’d best go change into something I can actually move in. Said there were loads of different physical activities we can do? Sounds kinda fun to be honest.’

‘Oh yeah,’ Sakura said with a quick smile. Trying not to be too disappointed at Naruto _not_ wanting to go get naked in their room together.

 _Later_.

‘The girls were telling me about that, suppose we’d best both go put on shorts and t-shirts huh?’ Sakura said thoughtfully, chewing on her hash brown. ‘Didn’t you say they supplied like throwaway clothes at the place though Tenten?’

Tenten nodded and peered at the two of them, at how close they were sitting to each other and clearly enjoying herself with every little hint of their comfort with each other. Sakura only noticed her noticing because well … she’d never really realised it but she and Naruto did kind of move in sync.

She only had to sort of see him glancing around for ketchup and salt before her hand was already moving on its own to pass him it. Or Naruto seemed to always know when she needed juice or water topping up or a fresh piece of toast from the rack one of the waiters dropped by their table.

It had always just been natural to her, because her and Naruto ate so many meals together but she supposed it was one of the many, many reasons their friends insisted they were a couple.

She couldn’t deny it now she couldn’t stop seeing it.

Or how much she freaking loved it.

‘Yeah,’ Tenten said dismissively and sipped some more of her tea. ‘But honestly, I’d just put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt of your own that you don’t mind having to throw away afterwards. We went as a team-building thing a couple years ago with Team Japan … you don’t want to wear those things. Besides, the sizes are always way off.’

Sakura did a quick mental tally of the clothes she’d brought with her. She supposed she could always find another pair of black exercise shorts she’d bought if she’d fancied a run and then there was that light red V-neck t-shirt she packed just in case.

The one where the bottom of the v was probably just a bit too low after years of wearing.

That might actually work out perfectly for the part of their plan for the day actually.

Because like she’d said to Naruto, the girls had told her what the plan for today was and suggested that maybe they’d try and set it up so her and Naruto spent a lot of time doing very physical things, with adrenaline pumping and there was even a water balloon fight place and well if she let him soak her …

Well everyone knew what happened to t-shirts of light colours when they got wet after all …

She glanced at Naruto who was absently eating his breakfast and appeared to be lost in thought. It was cute. If he only knew what was coming for him in the next couple hours.

Hopefully he’d be as excited as she was. Probably not as nervous though.

‘Hmm,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘Guess it’s a good thing I always bring workout gear when we go away huh Sakura?’ he chuckled and gave her a winning grin that knocked her socks off.

You know, if her toes hadn’t been curling around the way he’d said ‘we go away’. Like it was a fact that they never went on holiday without each other. That they’d gone away together so many times that of course Sakura would know what he’d pack in his suitcase.

In the way that only a girlfriend or wife would know. Like she’d been sat next to you watching you pack your clothes and reminding you to put things in there.

Like she did for him.

Every time they ever went away. Be it in a group or just the two of them taking a weekend trip.

Because they’d been doing that for years. And it always got them teased but they didn’t care and had some of the best holidays ever just the two of them and oh my God they were so married how had she never fucking seen it?!

Ugh.

‘So when are we meant to be heading out for this anyway?’ Naruto asked, thankfully helping her move past her frustration with herself. ‘Gotta be soon right? We’ve got the rehearsal dinner to go through this evening after all.’

Ino waved absently at him and checked her phone. ‘Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, all you’ve gotta do with that is show up, walk down the aisle with Sakura on your arm and stand there looking appropriately approving of the ceremony. As long as we’re back here at like four and change into appropriate clothes by five, we’ll have all the time in the world for the practice run and then it’s back to the dining room for the meal and we all try not to get so drunk we can’t function tomorrow and go to bed. Easy peasy, ass squeezy,’ Ino said with such forced innocence that Sakura actually could taste the smirk the blonde woman was hiding by checking her phone.

Because she probably somehow knew that all Sakura could think about now was Naruto squeezing her ass. And with his nice, big strong hands still moving in her peripheral vision she couldn’t really think of much else.

Bitch had said it on purpose.

‘Still doesn’t answer when we’re leaving for this thing though,’ Naruto groused as he sat there oblivious to how Sakura was staring at his hands.

God they were so big he could probably grab her whole ass with just one. Which would leave his other hand free to do other things …

Tenten nudged Ino with her elbow and chuckled. ‘We’re gonna be heading out in an hour Naruto don’t worry. It won’t actually take us long to get there, then it’ll take three to four hours depending on how long people want to do things. We’ll have plenty of time.’

The brunette said that last part while looking at Sakura and the pinkette gave her a small smile, the reassurance in her tone clearly meant for both of them.

And it did help.

Because honestly, she was gonna need all the time she could get to properly think of how to tell Naruto how she felt about him. And she also needed time to try and clear out the excess energy she had that was fuelling her horny like it was nitrous in a race car.

So a few hours of physical activity that almost invited them to play-flirt once they got each other alone would do wonders for her nerves.

Plus, with how the pair of them hadn’t seemed able to stop flirting ever since they woke up … hopefully that’d keep up all throughout and by the time she did get him alone after the rehearsal dinner … well maybe it wouldn’t just be her desperate to tell Naruto how she felt.

Maybe her oblivious man would finally be able to see it, like she had, and they could just finally, finally stop dancing around each other and just _dance_ together at long last.

 _God_ , _please_ , she thought as their eyes met again and he smiled at her warmly.

 _Please_.

* * *

Naruto was having a problem.

It was quite a serious problem and he really needed to get a hold of it as soon as he could. Because he was pretty damn sure his reaction to the problem was really obvious, and that all his friends had seen it. Especially Sakura.

Undoubtedly Sakura actually. Considering the problem was something very particular to her.

His problem was that her ass looked fucking amazing in her black exercise shorts and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

 _Her_. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from _her_.

And his mind wouldn’t stop suggesting things he could do to her. Starting with her ass and moving further up her wonderful body and then back down again. He honestly wasn’t sure why he wasn’t able to stomp the suggestions down.

Okay, he’d woken up with her ass pressed against his dick, and clearly cuddling her and they’d been play-flirting pretty much since they’d woken up but … well, they’d been doing that as a game for years!

Hell, he’d literally made a joke about finding a way to get her in his bed the other day at his place! That had left him able to think about barely anything that wasn’t sex related.

And he’d literally started his day with her ass pressed into his dick with only a very sexy pair of panties covering her! Why was a pair of exercise shorts, that by stopping halfway down her thigh covered her way more, having this much of an effect on him?!

_To be fair, you were staring at her ass the whole way to breakfast when she was in jeans and you couldn’t stop then either._

Okay, _yes_ , he had been staring at her ass the whole way down. Though that had mostly been just to flirt with Sakura who had actively been flirting back with him. This time he was just actively keeping her peach of an ass in his line of sight at all times without even meaning to.

Even when she wasn’t walking in front of him.

Ugh. He was a perv, just like his grandfather and he suddenly wished he could literally dive into a lake of ice just so he could have some semblance of control again. Honestly, it was a miracle he’d been able to contain himself from checking out her cleavage as well. That was probably because _that_ would be unavoidably obvious and as much as he would thoroughly enjoy the view … there was something creepier about getting caught staring at a woman’s breasts than her ass.

Not much creepier, both were gross behaviour he was meant to be above, but there was definitely something worse about it.

So yeah, Naruto had a problem and it was how Sakura was dressed and would be dressed for the next few hours while they all did apparently physical things. Kill him now.

Thankfully he’d offered to drive himself, Sakura, Ino and Sai to this place and in doing so, had to focus on driving and couldn’t focus on the interesting way the seatbelt sat between Sakura’s breasts.

Oh shut up, he couldn’t help it okay?

And Sakura wasn’t exactly helping him stop. He swore he caught her bending over more than necessary when they were in the room changing, and she even asked him if he thought the t-shirt she’d changed into was too tight and _proceeded to pull it down so her boobs literally strained against the fabric!_

If this was her messing with him and just upping the ante … well two could play at that game and he _would_ be getting her back.

Because she knew he was a boob guy and that he thought she had very nice breasts. He’d told her. When he was drunk and they’d been joking around about how hot each of them were. Which they’d done a few times over the years to be honest. Sometimes with their other friends around.

That probably fuelled the whole ‘totally a couple’ thing now he stopped to think about it. But they hadn’t cared then and he didn’t care now. It was a nice ego boost for him and she assured him, her too.

Apparently her being told he really thought she had a great ass and very nice breasts had made her day almost as much as the way she’d gushed about … basically all of him.

Which … well, was very flattering.

But anyway, that was always just a bit of a joke and it was fun to flirt with each other. Hell, he’d been clumsily doing that since school, it’d always made her laugh then and there was something deep inside him that adored when he said something that made her blush.

Especially if it left her speechless. Those were the times he wound up winning their game and the flirting normally ended for at least the rest of the day at that point.

So, if she was going to make a point of bending over in those shorts, finding ways to get him to have an eyeful of creamy cleavage … he was gonna bring out the big guns too and leave the pinkette blushing and speechless.

Sakura wasn’t the only one with secret knowledge of her best friend’s weaknesses after all.

Then maybe he’d be able to shove the uncontrollable desire to have her under him and gasping back in its box and he could stop having to remind himself Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze raised a damn gentleman.

‘So anyone been to this place before?’ Naruto asked as they turned into the car park for _Gai-sensei’s Adult Adventure Park of Youthful Exuberance!_

God that was a mouthful.

‘What even makes it an adult adventure park?’ Sakura snorted as she eyed the sign. ‘Like why the specific mention of adult?’

‘I mean with a name like that,’ Ino started with a naughty giggle. ‘If I didn’t know Shika and Temari weren’t into that sort of thing … I’d be wishing I’d brought condoms.’

Naruto and Sakura shared a look and a nervous grin before they blushed and Naruto tried not to let his brain descend into _more_ filth. Which checking out her cleavage again didn’t help with.

Goddammit he needed to _behave_.

‘Given it’s outside Ino,’ Sai said in a monotone voice, the slightest inflection the only hint of amusement, as he peered out into the sunny day. ‘I doubt this is going to be like that playroom we went to a month ago.’

Naruto and Sakura’s heads whipped round to see a very rare sight, Ino blushing bright red and smacking Sai on the arm with a breathy giggle.

‘Sai!’ she hissed, giving her two friends in the front of the car an embarrassed look. ‘I told you, we don’t talk about stuff like that when it’s not just you and me.’

He wondered if Ino realised she hadn’t denied going to a ‘playroom’ with her boyfriend. He decided it was best not to tease as he really didn’t want to let his mind wander with the idea of what sort of play happened there.

Going by Ino’s still red face and the smug grin on Sakura’s face, he could probably guess, and if he teased the blonde about it … she’d only come back at him and Sakura viciously and while he was able to move his mind away from Ino and Sai in some kind of sex dungeon …

If Ino put the idea of him and Sakura in one in his head … well he was already having to stop his brain from go there just by him worrying about Ino saying anything.

He knew his shower this morning wasn’t cold enough. Or long enough.

And if he didn’t stop Sakura, and quick, the pinkette was about to take her revenge on her best friend and Ino would be even worse in her response than anything she’d ever say to Naruto.

Which would ruin Naruto’s whole day and leave him with the kind of fantasies that belonged to teenage boys.

‘Well let’s get out and see if the others beat us here,’ Naruto said, clearing his throat as Sai looked perplexed at his girlfriend. ‘And maybe while me and Sakura are searching, you can explain to him the rules of um … pillow talk?’

Naruto locked eyes with Sakura and she swallowed a laugh of her own, eyed Ino for a long moment before she met his gaze again and reluctantly nodded and slipped out of the car.

He tried not to let his eyes drift to her ass. He really did. He failed.

Ino caught him and he could see the beginnings of a smirk forming on her face before Naruto glared at her.

‘I just gave you an out,’ he hissed. Sai peered at him curiously. ‘You know she was about to rip you apart. Give me a pass this once.’

Ino pouted and winced. ‘Fine, but know I saw that, and I won’t forget it.’

‘Why would you need a pass? You’re her boyfriend, you’re allowed to stare at her backside obviously,’ Sai said with a frown. He glanced between Ino and him, looking very, very confused. ‘Didn’t you tell me they were a couple now? You said it was only a matter of time now they were sharing a room right?’

Naruto gave the freshly blushing blonde an exasperated look and she smiled back weakly. ‘Uh … I’ll give you a second pass?’

With a shake of his head, Naruto got out of the Jeep wordlessly.

He’d just about shut the door when he heard the hissing telling off Sai was getting start in full blown earnest.

Sakura was stood off at the side of the car park, reading a sign next to the path up to the entrance of the activity centre.

He forced himself not to take another quick glance at her ass and walked up next to her, finding her grinning from ear to ear as she pretended to read the sign. An exaggerated cartoon drawing of the owner of the park took up the whole side of the flyer inside the glass box under the sign.

But Sakura was casting a glance back at his Jeep and when she caught him looking at her she only grinned harder.

‘Is it wrong that I’m immensely pleased she’s the one being embarrassed for once?’ Sakura asked, she didn’t even try to keep her voice down. Not that she needed to, Ino’s telling off of Sai had gotten loud enough he could hear muffled voices from all the way over here. ‘Like it’s justified that I’m savouring her being humiliated?’

Naruto snorted and nudged her in the side, getting a slight jump out of her. ‘Depends why you’re enjoying her humiliation. Because she’s been teasing us for years or because you’re judging her?’

Sakura waved dismissively at him and frowned. ‘Oh please, Ino’s been taking boyfriends to sex clubs since she learned about them in university. Hell she’s met a couple there. Remember the guy who went to one of our Halloween parties as a really convincing mummy?’

He could see the guy in his mind’s eye. The bandages covering almost all of his face was definitely something you remembered. Especially when Naruto had arrested him a year or two later.

‘Oh yeah, Dosu or something right?’

Sakura nodded. ‘Yeah, something like that. He was one from a club. No judgement here, glad she’s just doing that stuff in a place I don’t have to share with her to be honest.’ Sakura frowned a little deeper and shivered as if picturing something unsettling. It passed and her face shifted back into gentle beauty again. ‘I just think she deserves a little payback after the years of embarrassing us.’

Naruto had to agree and nudged Sakura in the side again, making her smile and swat at his hand before he got any ideas about more than nudging.

She needn’t have bothered. He wouldn’t have done that here.

Right now he’d probably get carried away and that would lead to all kinds of complicated conversations.

‘Fair, but maybe don’t be so obvious about watching to see if Sai ever steps out of my car again,’ Naruto chuckled and gestured back to the sign. ‘Any hints on what we’re in for through the gates? Ino’s pervy brain notwithstanding, the name of this place is a bit … horny sounding right?’

Sakura laughed a little and shrugged. ‘A bit, but isn’t Gai like ... too wholesome for words? Like Lee? He probably didn’t realise what sort of things ‘Adult Adventure’ would bring out of less innocent people.’

She grinned naughtily at him and something below his waist throbbed. He ignored it, though he couldn’t hide the blush it caused.

He ignored it again when Sakura winked and nudged him back in the side. ‘Why the red face Naruto? Where’s _your_ head right now?’

 _Mostly wondering what you were doing for in the shower for that long, you massive tease_ , his brain fired back rapidly.

He settled for a much coyer response. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’

‘Aww,’ Sakura pouted exaggeratedly and leant closer, revealing more cleavage. Fucking _tease_. ‘You’re not gonna tell me?’

Naruto nearly swallowed his tongue when she batted her eyelashes at him and forced himself to look at the list of activities on the sign in front of them.

‘No,’ he said, ignoring how strained his voice was and leaning in to get a better read of the tiny writing. There really were a long list of possible activities. ‘Guess you’ll have to deal with the now knowing.’

Sakura sighed dramatically from his side and then he felt her lean in closer to his ear, her sweet breath wafting over his face and he could _taste_ the flirty smile on her lips.

‘What if I asked really nicely?’ she whispered into his ear, her tone promising things that nice girls certainly never did.

His brain was lost to all sorts of images that could possibly be defined as Sakura asking nicely. Most of them involving Sakura in far less clothing and her mouth a lot lower than his ear.

He shook himself internally, desperately and marshalled his expression into something at least mildly stern. Basically a softer version of his cop face. ‘Behave Sakura.’

Which it turned out was the right thing to say as Sakura’s face turned bright pink and she got a shy little smile on her adorable face before she whispered a very small, slightly excited: ‘Okay. Sorry.’

And fuck him sideways if that wasn’t all kinds of hot and he had no idea what to do with it.

Thankfully he was saved by the rest of their friends pulling up at that exact moment and piling out of their cars.

‘Okay,’ Kiba said, looking up at the giant sign above the entrance and letting out a bark of laughter. ‘We’re not here to have a group orgy are we?’

A smattering of dirty laughter filtered through the gathering crowd and Hinata smacked Kiba’s arm lightly. ‘Kiba-kun!’

‘Sorry babe.’ Kiba said, clearly not sorry. ‘Couldn’t resist.’

He winked at his wife and Hinata smiled good-naturedly before turning to Shikamaru and Temari. ‘There is somewhere I can sit down for this though? I’m still feeling a bit wobbly after breakfast.’

Sakura immediately stepped forward with her doctor face on and frowned. Her eyes running over Hinata like a mechanic did a car. Only much more kindly. ‘Are you sure you’re up for this Hinata? You shouldn’t push yourself.’

The heavily pregnant woman smiled again and shook her head. ‘I’m fine, as long as there’s somewhere I can sit down. I won’t be able to do anything particularly strenuous obviously but I can cheer everyone on perfectly well.’

‘Okay,’ Sakura said, clearly not entirely mollified but relenting at the continual encouraging smile Hinata was giving her. ‘But if you feel at all worse please come get me.’

‘We got it doc,’ Kiba said playfully and took his wife’s hand in a gentle grip. It was actually really sweet to see the usually crude man being so gentle. ‘Relax yeah?’

Almost sweet enough for Naruto to not still relish chokeslamming the bastard into the water last night after he’d kicked his ass at beer pong.

‘We should probably get inside though,’ Shikamaru said, glancing around the crowd of people. ‘We do actually have to be back at venue in a few hours and my mother is already making me want to smoke a whole pack of cigarettes.’

Temari glared at him disapprovingly but notably didn’t say anything about how pushy Yoshino had been this morning. Naruto could relate. Shikamaru’s mother cornering him about his own parents’ coming to the wedding tomorrow had been stressful enough.

He couldn’t imagine being on the receiving end of her organising as her actual kid. He’d be smoking too.

Though given how much Sakura’s flirting was making his heart race … he might try and sneak off for a smoke later himself.

Maybe the influx of nicotine in his system would help him stop staring at her? Had to be worth a go.

The comforting thought of a smoke break managed to carry him along with the throng of his friends heading towards the entrance, loving the distraction caused by Sai and Ino joining them a few seconds later. There were a few weird looks were exchanged between Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino but nothing was actually said.

Though going by the small grins on the two men’s faces, they recognised something in Ino’s expression to know she was not entirely pleased right now. He wondered if that was like how he always could tell what was going through Sakura’s mind just by looking at her?

Well … most of the time. He’d been having difficulty with knowing what was going through her head the last couple days. Which was kinda unsettling to be honest.

Maybe it was because his head was on more distracting parts of her than her brain?

God he needed to fucking stop.

Though given how, even in the crush of his friends, Sakura seemed to be determined to put herself ahead of him and directly with her ass in his line of vision …

He didn’t think the coldest ice bath in the middle of the Arctic was gonna help him today.

He’d say God help him, but God had clearly abandoned him today.

Though he was able to distract himself once they entered the park. Thankfully.

And during the introduction and safety speech given by the enthusiastic park staff, he’d learned what the activities on offer were. They were as numerous and varied as the sign outside had suggested.

Naruto couldn’t actually remember what the sign had said, he’d been a bit too busy focusing on how close Sakura was to him and imagining things that, while very adult and a little adventurous, he was certain wouldn’t be anything the park was offering.

So he’d been quite surprised at what the park offered. Including all manner of physical tasks, like obstacle courses, water balloon fights and even capture the flag. But they couldn’t agree on teams that would make that even so they’d collectively given it up as a bad idea.

There were also more skill and luck based games that kinda belonged at fairgrounds and carnivals. Skee-Ball and ring toss but also those games where you got a pellet gun and you had to hit targets and if you hit enough you got a prize. Like a stuffed bear or something.

And then there were even puzzles you had to solve and Naruto hadn’t been too surprised when Hinata and Shikamaru both lit up at the idea of solving puzzles and riddles and not having to do anything that required them to move.

Most of them, with the exception of those who were clearly still recovering from hangovers or in Hinata’s case, pregnant, took part in the obstacle course though. Naruto managed to make it through most of it without getting stuck behind Sakura so he actually managed to focus on the task and finish.

Though when they’d both reached the climbing wall part of the obstacle course, and had to wait to be geared up and strapped into harnesses … Sakura had deliberately made sure she was right next to him and hit the wall just faster than him enough that if he wanted to look at where he was going at all …

Well he got an eyeful of her ass and shifting Lycra that made him suddenly very glad he hadn’t bought his actual work out gear and was instead in a baggier shorts that went past his knee.

No tents in his afternoon … no visible ones at least thank merciful God.

And at least given that he had to look directly up to climb … he could have a good long stare at her without being accused of perving. Honestly, it was actually something of a relief. A guilty relief but a relief all the same.

It also fuelled the very large need to get his revenge on Sakura for all her deliberate teasing and flirting. Because it was actually getting to the point now where if they were actually a couple, he’d …

No. _No_.

That sort of thought process would not help him in any way shape or form. He was gonna have a hard enough time get his revenge and sleeping in the same bed as her tonight. He didn’t need to start thinking about what would be different if they were a couple.

Not to mention that if he didn’t get his head on straight he might actually forget he wasn’t her boyfriend. That she wasn’t flirting with him because she was interested but because it was fun and he’d make a dumb move and the joke would end and he’d have to be forcibly reminded that Sakura really was just his friend.

No matter how he _might_ feel about her, he was alone in those feelings.

God, this weekend was already so confusing for his battered head. He almost wished he could stop flirting with her. But he couldn’t. Because fuck everything about him, but he didn’t want to stop.

Hell, he wanted to do more than just fucking flirt with her and it was driving him insane.

So revenge, because that had to happen, the reminder that he knew how to get under Sakura’s skin and leave her the same gaping moron she did him would stop her … and then they could go back to enjoying their weekend without him being mind-endingly horny.

But he had to pick his moment. He had to get her alone and he had to pick a game that would ensure he’d have an excuse to get his revenge in without literally telegraphing what he was doing to everyone there.

So he played a few of the games with the guys, beating a salty Neji at Skee-Ball with a little more class than in poker last night.

He felt a bit guilty after his chat with Tenten earlier. Not guilty enough to let Neji win, but he didn’t gloat about it.

He did gloat when he whooped Kiba though. The chokeslam into the water hadn’t been enough revenge for Kiba’s mouth and honestly he needed the release that kicking his ass at something would give today.

Part of him wondered if Sakura basically driving his baser instincts wild all day was part of why he needed to show off in such a physical way … and what that said about him … but when Kiba ‘challenged’ him to a game simply called Duel, he jumped at it.

What the game had been was he and Kiba got given helmets, pads and a giant pugil stick each, it looked like a giant cotton bud basically, and put on two elevated platforms that were close enough together you could step across easily.

Then you just went buck wild and hit one another until one of the competitors gave up, fell off or stepped onto the opposing platform.

Naruto was so pumped up and full of testosterone that he knocked Kiba from his platform to the large crashmat below in about two minutes.

Then he’d done it again, and again, until Kiba hit the mat for the fifth time and wisely decided he’d had enough.

He’d had to let others have a go after that though, his knees had started to hurt a bit and well … Lee looked so eager to have a go he was more like a kid pulling on his dad’s arm than a man trying to convince his friend to come beat the hell out of him with an oversized cotton bud. Neji also looked more like a disgruntled parent than friend at Lee’s insistence.

It held a lot of the group’s attention though, those who hadn’t dispersed to play more sensible and less tiring games that was, and now he’d worked out some of his pent up energy, Naruto actually thought he’d be able to get his revenge for Sakura’s flirting and teasing without his head exploding now.

And with a muttered ‘come with me’ to a smirking Sakura, he’d pulled her away from the group. Only Ino really paid attention to them going and when she started to say something he hissed at her.

‘Calling the second you owe me.’

He hadn’t really noticed how he’d taken Sakura’s hand in his and was leading her away until the two of them were stood in front of a large inflatable room, still holding hands. It was enclosed by four walls and a slightly raised circular entrance that you had to climb through. It was perfectly at the other end of the park and no one else was inside from what he could see by the lack of shoes in front of it.

‘Water balloon fight huh?’ Sakura said with a playful smile as she glanced at the sign explaining what it was. She nudged him with her shoulder and chuckled. ‘Are you trying to get me wet or something?’

…

_For the love of God!_

Why wasn’t she his girlfriend again? Ugh. That sort of joke demanded a far sexier response than he could comfortably give.

No matter how loud his brain was shouting it at him. Begging him to say it. To just say it and hope it landed well. Cus maybe then it’d lead to the sort of things he’d been wishing they could do since he’d learned what sex _was_.

He glared at her playfully, shoving down his hormonal teenage memories hard and nudged her back with his elbow. ‘What did I say about behaving?’

Sakura winked and his whole body throbbed with need. ‘Make me.’

Oh, he was gonna.

She smirked at him as he felt his cheeks blush and he walked up to the smiling woman standing in front of a bucket that appeared to be damn near overflowing with very full water balloons.

‘Hi guys!’ the perky redhead said as they approached. ‘Having fun today?’

Naruto caught Sakura smirking some more as she nodded and forced himself to smile at the friendly young woman. ‘Yup, this place is great!’

The redhead smiled some more, Gai would be proud he was sure. ‘Super, well I’m guessing you don’t need the rules explaining on this one huh? Kick off your shoes, grab some water balloons, head inside and have fun! Careful though, the surfaces get slippery when they’re wet.’

‘Do we have a time limit or anything?’ Sakura asked as she started to slip off her shoes.

‘Normally, we’d give you like half an hour,’ the redhead said with a shrug. ‘But you guys booked the whole park so really it’s until you’re done.’ She picked up a smaller bucket and handed it to Naruto with a smile. ‘I’ll be out here so don’t worry about leaving your things, have fun!’

Naruto chuckled to himself and filled the bucket to halfway with water balloons and, after showing it to Sakura for her approval, kicked off his trainers and made his way to the entrance to the inflatable room.

He was gonna have so much fun.

‘So …’ Sakura said while he eased through the entrance, balancing the water balloon filled bucket on a pre-prepared flat topped platform. Sakura coming through after him, her top dipping lower as she bent through and Naruto decidedly looked away. ‘Not that I’m not all for a bounce house and a water balloon fight just for the hell of it Naruto but … you got any rules in mind for this?’

Naruto paused for a second, smiling lightly as he watched Sakura bounce slightly on the inflatable floor until she was leaning against the platform. ‘I mean, I was just aiming to bounce around and throw water balloons at you til you cried uncle. Sounds fun right?’

Well … that was partly true. He was also just lulling her into a sense of false security before he sprung his trap.

Because they were alone now and Naruto could make as many suggestive comments about her as he wanted, until he had his tease of a hot best friend blushing scarlet and unable to speak.

Oh and soaked to the bone.

Then his revenge would be complete and hopefully that would give him a bit of a release and he could stop being such a perv.

The pinkette laughed at his playful grin and peered down at the plentiful ammo at their disposal. ‘I don’t know Naruto, there’s a lot there, we’ll be in here all afternoon if we just aim to use all of them … how about first person to get hit three times loses?’

Naruto nodded, he didn’t really care to be honest, he was probably only gonna actually throw water balloons at her for maybe a few minutes before starting to make comments that would make her blush.

‘Sure, sounds fun.’

‘Great!’ Sakura said with a beaming smile.

Then she reached into the bucket and before Naruto could fully register what she was doing … she’d picked up a balloon and thrown it at his chest.

Cold water exploded over his shirt, drenching him and sticking the t-shirt to his chest and sending him flying backwards out of pure shock.

‘Urk!’ Naruto shouted elegantly as he bounced on his back and rolled off to his left just in time to see Sakura grinning widely and already delving into the bucket for fresh ammo.

‘Cheap shot Sakura!’ he said quickly and dodged to the right and then the left as the pinkette threw another and another at him. ‘At least let me get one first!’

‘Why?’ Sakura said, coming away from the bucket with fresh balloons and bouncing from one foot to the other to quickly gain ground. ‘I’m winning.’

‘We never decided what the winner got though,’ Naruto said as he dodged the first of Sakura’s new balloons, it bursting against the floor a little behind where he had been stood. ‘So that first one doesn’t count!’

Sakura shrugged and smirked. ‘Fine, if you win, I’ll flash you.’

‘Wait what?’ Naruto said coming to a dumbfounded stand still and staring at her. Because he had to have misheard her right?

Like … look … they’d gotten suggestive and flirty in the past … and hell today she may as well have been shoving parts of her in his face … but she’d never actually just … but hell he was down for that … but what would she want out if …

A fresh crash of cold water hit him in the stomach and he just about managed to stay up as Sakura cheered and bounced in place, her breasts going up and down with her slightly as Naruto wiped away some of the excess water and the beautifully grinning pinkette just watched him.

‘Ha! Got you!’ she laughed, already bounding back to the bucket where the balloons were.

‘Hey wait!’ Naruto cried back, thanking God he was closer to the bucket than her and reached it with enough time to pull out a balloon and wing it at Sakura mid-bounce.

The balloon hit her in the middle of the chest and burst all over her shirt, soaking it until it was damn near transparent and just before Sakura slipped and landed on the bouncy floor Naruto was gifted with her breasts jiggling against her top as Sakura let out a surprised: ‘Oof!’

‘That’s two one,’ Naruto chuckled, waiting for Sakura to stand up before throwing another water balloon at her.

Because fair was fair after all.

‘Okay,’ Sakura said a little wearily as she slowly rose to her feet, pulling at her top a little and grimacing before rubbing at her chest. Which Naruto tried not to watch too much. ‘That hurt more than I expected.’

Naruto winced and placed his fresh balloon down next to the bucket as Sakura made her way over to him carefully. All thoughts of revenge left him as he reached out a hand to guide her over to steadier footing.

‘I’m sorry Sakura, didn’t think it’d hurt that much, are you okay?’

She smiled up at him and continued to rub at her chest for a second before leaning against the platform. She winced when her fingers stroked along the centre of her chest.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said with a grimace. ‘I’d tease you for throwing a water balloon at my boobs but honestly? It’s not so funny when it’s actually happened.’

He took that one, decidedly staring at her face and not the shirt that she may as well have not been wearing now for all the modesty it was giving her. He hadn’t thought it would hurt … it hadn’t hurt him when she’d got him in the chest.

‘Do you wanna go sit down and we’ll get you a fresh shirt?’ Naruto asked. He’d offer to give her his but it was equally soaked. Maybe the woman outside with have like a towel or something they could borrow?

Yeah, they’d have to have a towel or something knocking around right?

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said with another wince and a rub between her breasts, making them jiggle in a way that Naruto doubted a saint could ignore. Bad Naruto, you just hurt your friend, don’t check out her lovely breasts right now! ‘Hold on, let me just steady myself.’

‘Sure,’ Naruto said, feeling guiltier and guiltier by the second. ‘You wait there, I’m gonna go ask the woman if she has a towel or something okay?’

She smiled at him some more and Naruto started to bounce his way to the entrance.

God, he was such a jackass. A colossal, idiotic jackass. He’d wanted revenge for her flirting with him? The hell? He should have just enjoyed it and flirted back like they always did.

But no, he got himself in all of a horny tizzy because the weekend was weird and his feelings for her had come roaring back and just like last time he’d let his feelings for Sakura get the better of him, she’d gotten hurt.

Stupid man.

‘Hey Naruto?’ Sakura called when he was halfway to the entrance.

‘Yeah?’ Naruto turned with a frown. ‘What’s up, Sakura?’

‘You’re cute when you’re concerned,’ Sakura said sweetly and she moved forward suddenly, a wicked grin covering her previous pained expression and before Naruto knew what was happening she was in his space. ‘And so adorably gullible!’

Sakura threw herself at him, her body colliding with his chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck and head, a splash of cold water slamming into the top of his skull as they fell together. Naruto’s arms instinctively going around her middle as they went and Naruto hit the floor with a wet bounce, all of Sakura crashing into him as they bounced to a stop.

It left him dazed slightly, blinking to clear his head as Sakura cheered and reared up with her hands thrown up in the air in celebration. He felt her legs move around him as she’d repositioned so she wouldn’t fall over and when Naruto finally came back to Earth he was struck with three simple facts.

One: Sakura was devious and should never be trusted in a game where she could win.

Two: They were both soaking wet and breathing hard, making their chests do interesting things that neither of them seemed to be able to drag their eyes away from.

And finally, three: Sakura was straddling him. And she was making no effort to move.

No, she was just sat there, her knees either side of his hips, her chest and neck soaked, the water dribbling down her top to soak her stomach and her long hair hung forwards, until it was tickling his nose with how close Sakura had remained.

There was a curious look in her eyes. He couldn’t say exactly what it was and honestly he was having a hard time focusing right now. He was painfully aware of how she was basically sat on his crotch.

That particular part of his anatomy getting more and more excited that she was there by the passing moment and if she didn’t get off him soon … she was gonna find out exactly how much he approved of her being there.

She smiled then, a slow, languid thing that was sensual and inviting and then in the same heartbeat sent sheer terror through his entire being. But that terror was being shouted down by the thoughts that were causing him to stir just under her ass, thoughts that wanted her to wiggle like she had this morning and then do some more of what he’d been thinking about in the shower after that.

And then the terror came back, different though, this time begging her to do something because in this exact moment he didn’t know what he should do. He wanted to touch her, to bring her smiling lips down to his, to dare to take what he prayed was being offered to him. To finally, _finally_ after years and years of subconscious and not so subconscious wishing for this exact moment, to just try and risk it.

To see if he kissed her … would she kiss back?

‘Hi,’ Sakura said quietly, her hand wiping away a water droplet from her forehead as she smiled down at him. Still not moving from his lap, her eyes never leaving his and the curious expression going from something he couldn’t read to something far, far simpler and honestly … scarier.

Hope.

‘Hi,’ he whispered back. ‘Guess you won huh?’

Sakura’s smile widened, its brilliance blinding him as it turned her already beautiful face into something divine, angelic.

‘Yup,’ Sakura said simply. ‘Guess I’d best decide what I want huh?’

His body, apparently tired of his brain’s unwillingness to work with it, was moving on its own, his hands coming up to rest tentatively at her hips as Sakura simply continued to smile, her own hands coming to rest on either side of his head as she started to lower to him.

‘Uh huh,’ he said, his eyes dropping to her lips as they came closer and closer to his. Oh God … what was even happening right now?

‘Wanna guess?’ Sakura whispered, her lips so close to his now he could damn near taste her on his tongue.

Oh God, please let this be real. Please let the whole day not be some really lucid dream.

Please be real.

Her lips were a hairsbreadth away from his, her eyes had already drifted closed and his head lifted from the floor to meet her. Their lips just about to touch, finally.

_Finally._

‘HEY!’ The woman from outside the bounce house shouted loudly.

And the spell was broken, Sakura whipped up from him, her cheeks blooming pink and there was a brief flicker of pain across her beautiful face before anger swallowed it whole.

‘I know the place says Adult Adventure guys,’ the woman said, her face a mask of disapproval that would have fit better on an elderly matron than a twenty-something woman. ‘But it’s not _that_ kind of adult. You two wanna get wet and screw, go do it somewhere else.’

Sakura looked down at him and then back at the still glaring park employee and sighed heavily. ‘Fine, have you got a towel or something?’ Sakura all but hissed at the other woman.

‘Sure have,’ the redhead said haughtily. ‘Out here. Come on.’

Without anything other than an apologetic look down at him, Sakura rose from his lap and gracelessly bounced over to the entrance and clumsily climbed out, leaving Naruto still laying there.

He collapsed back down and groaned heavily as he heard very sharp voices exchange words and he heard Sakura squelch off somewhere. Which was probably for the best, he didn’t know what to say to her right now and honestly … he didn’t even know what the hell to think about the last … what? Ten minutes?

He was so damn confused.

‘Hey buddy,’ the woman said, reappearing in the entrance. ‘You too, come on man, I gotta dry this off now.’

‘Sure,’ Naruto said, his voice somewhat removed from himself, and with equal lack of grace as Sakura made his way out of the inflatable room. ‘Sorry.’

She sighed heavily as he flopped down on a chair set to the side. ‘Look, I get it. It’s not like you’re the first couple to get carried away but hell, I gotta clean up after you, you know?’

‘We’re not …’ he said absently.

Where’d Sakura gone?

‘Hey,’ Naruto said, taking the offered towel from the disgruntled staff member. ‘Where’d Sakura go?’

‘Your girlfriend?’ she asked with a sigh. ‘Stomped off to the toilets to dry or cool off, whatever. Best go talk to her though, she looked ready to kill me and I’m not paid enough for that shit. Take her shoes with you.’

‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ Naruto said.

Because she wasn’t right? Like … right?

‘Then she sure as fuck wants to be,’ the redhead said dismissively, scoffing at him in sheer disbelief before she turned away from him and headed into the room with a roll of paper towels, ending the conversation before he could say anything else.

He wanted to call back that no she didn’t, but for the first time in nearly ten years …

Naruto wasn’t sure he’d be right.

And the hope that spurred in him terrified him to silence.

The fuck was he meant to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean ... in Naruto's place ... what would you do? I'd be just as lost as him I'm not even gonna lie.
> 
> Poor Sakura, the redhead is so on her shit list now lol.
> 
> And taking bets on how honest to God freaked both our morons are gonna be in the next chapter lol. I give good odds.
> 
> See you soon~


	9. Define 'Love'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, no spoilers but strap in. This is the longest chapter yet. Also please keep in mind people who read my other work, that this fic and its chapter lengths are atypical, and are only this long because of arbitrary reasons I thoroughly regret lol.
> 
> Please don't expect these lengths after this fic, I will disappoint you lol.
> 
> Anyway! Go, read, mush.

Sakura wished she knew a lawyer right now.

She wanted to know if there was any legal justification for killing the redheaded bitch who’d ruined her perfect fucking moment to make a move on Naruto. Because if that bitch had just kept her nose out for at least another five minutes she wouldn’t be in this stupid fucking situation right now.

Hell, there would be the very real possibility she’d have a goddamn boyfriend. The boyfriend she’d wanted since she was fourteen years old. She might not have been brave enough to admit it to herself when she was a kid, and hadn’t known what she didn’t want before Sasuke but well … hadn’t she always kind of wanted to be Naruto’s girlfriend?

Hadn’t everything she’d wanted in a boyfriend just been a summary of all of Naruto’s best traits? Kind, funny, clever, hot, cute and immense fun to be around?

Granted she’d also wanted to have a boyfriend who was a good kisser too and while she had some passing experience of kissing the blond man … those had always been drunken kisses or chaste cheek kisses and had never been more than peck …

But she’d have known this afternoon if it weren’t for that redheaded bitch! She was tempted to file a complaint about her. Teach her to get in the way of a moment that had been building probably longer than the stupid girl had had boobs.

Though she supposed she wasn’t actually angry with the girl from the park. She’d been annoyed at the time sure, and she still was because hell, she’d dropped her plan and literally thrown herself at Naruto. And it had looked like it was going to work!

She didn’t think she could have been more obvious about wanting to seduce him if she’d tried. And she had been trying. Even Naruto had to know women didn’t just constantly put their asses in men’s line of sight at every possible opportunity.

Part of her had actually wondered if he had deliberately gotten her alone so _he_ could make a move on _her_. Which personally she’d found very sexy, immensely out of character but hey, it was a day for being out of character.

Ino would be proud at how much Sakura had come out of her more shy shell to literally thrust her body at Naruto all afternoon. Granted Ino probably would have told her to do it with less clothes on.

She sighed heavily into her glass of wine and sipped at it gently. No getting drunk tonight, but a little wine would help soothe her bruised ego. And the dull ache between her boobs where Naruto had got her with that water balloon.

She’d played up how much it had hurt dramatically but anyone with breasts could tell you that getting smacked in them with anything hard enough _would_ hurt. And Naruto had a good throwing arm.

The only reason she’d been able to push past it was because her brain had offered her the rather pleasing thought of Naruto kissing them better. And the idea of Naruto’s lips anywhere that intimate was more than enough to make her power through the bit of pain.

Not to mention how the sweetheart, when presented with an attractive woman who’d been hitting on him all day in a wet t-shirt that was so transparent he must have been able to see her bra, he looked away and immediately went to find something to cover her with.

That alone had been enough for her to officially throw her plan out the window and just fucking mount him.

Not to mention how good _he_ looked wet. Mama had wanted a piece. Hell, mama still wanted a piece even in her annoyance. Getting some of Naruto would certainly alleviate her mood. Then a bit more … and a bit more.

Because no, while she was definitely enjoying the idea of the younger woman getting the sack for being nosy and … just doing her job, ugh she was terrible, she’d worked retail, she knew what just doing a job was like, shame on her … it wasn’t her she was annoyed with.

It was Naruto.

Because … how could he be so oblivious?! He’d had a soaking wet her on top of him, clearly about to kiss him, and clearly not as some kind of joke or tease. She could only have been more obvious about what she’d wanted if she’d said it out loud in small words. And he hadn’t said a damn thing about it ever since. He hadn’t even spoken to her at all!

Well no, he’d spoken to her, when he’d had to. But ever since the bounce house he’d barely looked at her, he’d barely spoken to her and when he’d been forced to … he’d been short, stilted and awkward in a way that he hadn’t been in over a decade.

Hell, she hadn’t realised it at first but he was one hundred percent avoiding her. And it hurt her so bad she thought her heart had actually shattered.

She’d honestly thought she’d misread the signals and had made a really big mistake. Had she taken her shot and fucked up? She hadn’t thought so … he had moved to hold her when she was in his lap … she’d _felt_ how happy he was to have her in his lap … something that had given her giddy little thrill she’d thoroughly enjoyed by the way.

But when she’d come to find him, after having psyched herself up in the bathroom stall while drying off, he’d already left the bounce house area. She’d found him back at some of the other games with Gaara and Kankuro, his hair still damp.

Sakura had been about to basically drag Naruto off to a quiet corner and try for take two, but as she’d gotten close enough to pull him away, they’d had to come back to the venue to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.

The car journey home had been painfully, awkwardly quiet.

Naruto had barely said a word, only answering questions when asked. He didn’t even say anything when Sakura had slipped into the backseat next to Ino and Sai had taken her usual place in shotgun.

She’d needed time to regroup and being sat next to him while he was being distant was not going to help her with that.

The text chat with Ino had helped though. Through quick texts back and forth, Sakura had begged Ino to let her get changed in her and Sai’s room because well … she needed to tell her what had happened and she needed her other best friend to stop her from spiralling into a pit of doubt and self-loathing.

Because she was. God, she was.

Ino, without a word of teasing or a moment’s hesitation, had agreed and quickly came up with some bullshit excuse for the boys so that Sakura could get ready with Ino.

Something about helping her with her hair or whatever. Sakura had been too busy watching for any reaction out of Naruto. He’d just nodded and kept driving.

They’d got back to the venue soon after that and Ino and Sakura had pretty much raced to Ino’s room.

She’d poured her heart out to the blonde woman. Explained how everything seemed to have gone wrong and even had a bit of a cry as Ino held and soothed her. Because she had been certain she’d just fucked up her friendship with Naruto and now, when she’d finally accepted how she felt about him … it felt like she was going to lose him. For good this time.

The only reason Sakura had been able to get through the rehearsal dinner with any amount of calm was some very simple points made by Ino, and by God was she clinging to them right now.

Naruto … had self-esteem issues. Not in general but especially when it came to anyone finding him attractive. Not a single person in their friend group knew why, even the guys would admit he was handsome, but Naruto just wouldn’t have it.

And on top of that, Ino reminded her that when anyone, _anyone_ was hinted at having a thing for him, his first reaction was to laugh it off as impossible and second reaction was to tell you to stop spreading rumours about whoever it was.

The moron hadn’t even noticed Hinata’s crush on him through all of school until she’d literally screamed it at him. And you could have seen Hinata’s crush from space.

Granted she thought you could have seen her crush on him from space too but well … he didn’t notice that either.

He just didn’t seem to think anyone was capable of actually having a thing for him. This was a man who’d had at least four girlfriends in the time Sakura had known him, granted never for super long but he’d had at least four women show him in no unmistakeable terms that … yes, women did indeed find him attractive and wanted to kiss him senseless.

And Sakura could attest there was at least a couple more who wanted to do more than that. She had been and was, one of them after all.

But it wouldn’t cut through his self-denial and self-loathing. Which really didn’t make sense, he’d always been a wonderful person. He was a goddamn angel for God’s sake!

Yet, Ino had been right, Naruto didn’t do well with admissions of love or attraction, it had actually been why she’d originally planned on talking to him about it. If it had been her, just sat talking to him … she could have made him understand.

But her horny had just taken over the wheel today and she hadn’t been able to control herself. And when she’d seen him stood there, wet and concerned … she’d thrown caution to the wind and instead of thinking about how he’d feel … she’d just gone to take what she’d wanted.

He’d liked it, she’d felt his approval where she’d rested, but she’d clearly confused him.

The very real possibility was that Naruto had been uncharacteristically quiet and short with everyone, because it wasn’t just her he’d been stilted with thank merciful Heaven, because he was doing what he always did when he was that confused.

Naruto was thinking. Which, while not a comment on his intelligence, he was a very clever man, but Naruto was a lot more of a doer than a thinker so when he came across a problem he couldn’t just bull through … he had to stop and really think.

And then when he’d finished thinking it through … he’d act.

She supposed that had been another reason why she’d gone to Ino’s room to change. To give Naruto time to think about what had happened. To parse it out and hopefully come to the realisation that Sakura wanted to be more than his friend.

Sakura just hoped she wasn’t alone in that.

So she’d calmed down, Ino had given her a much gentler pep talk than usual and told her to wait, give it a couple hours and then, after all the gifts and the speeches and the run through of the rehearsal dinner and ceremony … get Naruto alone and talk to him.

About everything. And to not stop talking until he understood and admitted he loved her too.

Because Ino had been emphatic on that point. Naruto loved her. And not just as a friend, he loved her in ways that only singers and filmmakers could ever hope to explain.

And with that comforting thought in her head, Sakura had made it through all the awkward moments that evening while she’d sat next to Naruto, talking to him idly, listening to the speeches and watching the gifts being given out to bridesmaids and groomsmen.

All the bridesmaids had been given a goody bag filled with flowers, wine, bath bombs and special soaps, and a voucher for a spa day of their choosing. It had been lovely and she’d given both Temari and Shikamaru a massive hug.

All the groomsmen had been given a very nice bottle of whiskey and that had been about it. Men would be men about gift giving after all.

Chouji had been given a personal cooking lesson with a famous chef for being best man which had lit the man’s face up, and Ino had been given a whole mess of coupons for a lot of high-end boutiques that Sakura just knew she was going to be dragged around. Ino had also been overjoyed.

And then Temari had come up to Naruto with a box. He’d looked very confused, again, and smiled uncertainly at Temari.

Then she’d opened the box and Naruto’s jaw had dropped. As had Sakura’s, because in the box was a brand new game console of the newest generation and five games that Sakura just knew Naruto would absolutely love. Her too actually she realised as she spotted two controllers in the box. Temari giving her a quick wink while Naruto was staring at the console.

‘For putting up with Shikamaru,’ Temari had said. ‘Thank you Naruto, from both of us.’

Naruto had grinned widely and Sakura had missed that smile so much in just a few hours that seeing it again gave her butterflies.

He’d hugged Temari and Shikamaru and even turned to grin at her and the butterflies fluttered again. Until his smile dropped and his expression became uncertain and confused and the butterflies plummeted.

The rest of the meal had gone without much fanfare, any conversation Sakura had tried to start was ended very quickly by Naruto and once he’d finished his food he’d gotten up from the table and left in a hurry, leaving her in his proverbial dust.

Which was where she was sat now, staring at the present Temari and Shika had gotten him … them really she supposed … and trying not to cry.

She’d been just about ready to leave the room to do just that when Shikamaru rested down in Naruto’s absent seat.

‘Hey Sakura,’ he said gently. ‘How you doing?’

‘Fine,’ Sakura lied hurriedly, wiping a tissue at her eye and smiling the best she could for the groom-to-be. ‘Thank you for the gifts Shika, they were lovely.’

‘You’re welcome,’ he said with a smile. ‘I imagine the lot of you will wait until after Hinata and Karui have had their kids before you use the spa day though huh?’

Sakura smirked despite literally wanting to do anything but that. ‘Chouji needs to get more subtle doesn’t he?’

He laughed lightly and shrugged. ‘He’s not used to keeping secrets from me and Ino. It’s understandable. Are you okay?’

His gaze was piercing, kind but piercing. He knew something was wrong and while she didn’t want to tell him and bother him on the night before his wedding, she could feel herself slipping …

‘He’s an idiot Sakura,’ Shikamaru said without any malice. He stared out into the room of their gathered friends and family and sighed heavily. ‘And he doesn’t know how to accept love if he doesn’t think he deserves it. And for some reason he doesn’t think he deserves your love. So when you tried to give it … he shut down. I don’t know why, and honestly it’s kinda annoying.’

Sakura crumpled a little and fell into Shikamaru’s side, he wrapped an arm around her and in a very uncharacteristic move, he rubbed her arm and hugged her closer.

It really was a day for uncharacteristic things.

‘But he does love you, he’s loved you since he knew what love was,’ Shikamaru said quietly, still rubbing her arm. ‘And we know you love him.’

‘I do,’ Sakura said, her voice a little raspy as she fought back tears. ‘Shika, why didn’t I see it before?’

He shrugged as lightly as he could, jostling her just a little. ‘You’re an idiot too?’

‘Hey!’ Sakura said, digging him in the ribs with a wet laugh. ‘Aren’t you meant to be comforting me here?’

‘Encouraging,’ Shikamaru said, grinning a little as she pulled away to look at him. ‘Go get your idiot, idiot.’

She shoved him slightly and he just grinned more. ‘I don’t know where he is though Shika.’

The raven haired man sighed and stood from the chair. ‘There’s a balcony on our floor … good place to smoke, which you know Naruto never does …’

_Except when he had to think._

‘Thank you Shika,’ Sakura said, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. ‘I’ll see you later.’

He just nodded and walked away, a small smile tucked into his cheek.

‘Well … time to go get my idiot,’ Sakura muttered to herself.

And with that, she made a beeline for the elevators.

* * *

Sakura found Naruto where Shikamaru had told her he would be.

He hadn’t been hard to find though, he was literally stood directly in front of a giant window and not even trying to hide.

She’d be a little frustrated he wasn’t at least trying to hide that he was smoking when he knew she hated it. Though she supposed, it wasn’t like she didn’t turn a blind eye every now and then.

Sakura would much prefer he didn’t smoke at all, that he had much healthier outlets for his stress, but he was a cop and occasionally cases would get to him so much that it was either climbing into a bottle, getting laid or smoking that was gonna help and if she had to pick between him getting black out drunk, picking up a random woman and smoking … she’d rather he smoked.

Though hopefully from after this weekend the getting laid part of his stress relief would be down to her and then she’d be able to remove smoking from his coping mechanisms forever.

Unless what happened next blew up in her face.

He didn’t seem to notice her as she approached, he didn’t even turn when she opened the double oak doors and strode out into the night air. Suddenly wishing she’d brought a jacket.

Naruto, stood in his suit and, looking absolutely stunning, had paused with his unlit cigarette in his lips. She kind of hoped it was his first but he’d possibly been up here for at least ten minutes. That would be more than enough time to smoke at least one cigarette.

She didn’t see any cigarette butts on the floor though.

He popped the cigarette out of his mouth when she stared at him and he sighed heavily. ‘Damn it,’ he muttered, shrugging out of his jacket and wrapping it around Sakura’s shoulders without saying anything.

He didn’t smell like smoke when he did it and Sakura was a bit relieved.

‘Why are you up here Sakura?’ he asked, his face a blank slate as he stared down at the woods below. ‘The others are gonna wonder where we went.’

‘Then maybe you shouldn’t have left either,’ Sakura fired back, watching his profile as he grimaced. ‘Why are _you_ up here?’

He gestured at her with the cigarette before tucking it back in its box with its equally unsmoked fellows.

She bristled at the fact that he’d clearly hid cigarettes from her but she let it go with the reminder that they’d both hidden things from each other in their suitcases. She doubted Naruto’s suitcase had a whole pocket stuffed with condoms.

‘I know you hate it when I smoke Sakura,’ he said not unkindly. ‘But I’m kinda stressed and I just wanted one or two to clear my head okay? Go back down, I’ll be there soon.’

No he wouldn’t. He was shitty liar, at least when it came to her.

‘Or you could talk to me about why you’re so stressed?’ Sakura offered, the respectable distance she was keeping between them feeling like a mile rather than a couple steps. She cuddled into his jacket that smelt like him. ‘Smoking’s bad for you, and you know I saw the second pack right?’

Naruto grunted and turned to look at her, the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes physically hurt her. ‘I don’t think talking about this one is gonna help.’

‘It might,’ Sakura said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.

Talking about today would certainly help her that was for damn sure. Because the longer they stood here in stilted silence the more afraid she was getting that Ino had been wrong. That Shikamaru had been wrong.

That he didn’t love her too. Not like that. And that she’d ruined everything by trying to force her feelings on him.

‘Please go back downstairs Sakura,’ he said levelly. ‘You’ll catch a cold out here and I wouldn’t want tomorrow ruined for you because you’re out here with me. I’ll be down soon, I promise.’

She hated when he lied. Even if it was a little lie, meant to protect himself from pain. It was so against everything he stood for and was. She especially hated when he lied to _her_.

There weren’t meant to be any secrets between them. None, he was meant to be an open book to her like she was for him. They’d promised all the way back when they cried together over their breakups. Nothing would be kept from the other.

No secrets, no half-truths.

No lies.

And if the other caught them in a lie … they had to call it out.

Sakura supposed it was time to put up or shut up.

‘You’re lying to me,’ Sakura said, so quietly the wind could have taken it away. ‘Why?’

Naruto reacted like he’d been slapped and the expression on his face was mingled pain and anger.

It scared her.

She wasn’t scared of him, never had been, never could be, but she was scared of what she’d just done to them. If she’d been driving him away by confusing him … she’d just given him another hearty shove.

‘I’m not lying,’ Naruto bit back, harshness in his voice she rarely heard. And never at her. ‘Go downstairs Sakura.’

But he was lying and he was scared too. She could see it in his eyes. The most wonderful man she’d ever known was terrified.

Of her.

So she wasn’t leaving. Not until that fear was gone. If he ran away, she’d chase him. If he tried to lie, she call him out on it, if he yelled at her … she’d yell back.

After thirteen years of being in love with him, and twenty-three of being his best friend, after everything they’d gone through and denied for all those years.

She was done running.

‘No, you’re going to tell me what’s wrong and we’re going to talk about it,’ she said softly, reaching up to cup his cheek, her heartbeat in her throat, even as she tried to swallow it back down. ‘Please Naruto, talk to me.’

He let her hand rest against his cheek for a moment before pulling away and turning away from her.

‘I don’t have to tell you everything Sakura,’ he said, the muscles of his back hard and unwelcoming in a way they never were before.

‘Yes you do,’ she said, her voice getting a little watery the longer he wouldn’t look at her. She could feel her heart breaking into tiny little pieces along with her resolve to not cry. ‘We promised, we’d never keep secrets from each other. Remember?’

‘Would you just leave me alone?’ his voice was sharp and he couldn’t hurt her more with an actual knife right now. ‘You don’t get to know everything that goes on in my head Sakura, not when you’re not actually …’

‘When I’m not actually what?’ she asked, her own voice sharpening. Because he wanted to get mad at her for loving him and trying? Well she could get mad at him for not at least giving her the respect of looking at her when he broke her heart.

After everything they’d been through. After most of their lives as friends and supporting each other through all the hard times and celebrating all the successes they’d had together and separately. He should at least look at her when he destroyed her.

‘Nothing,’ he said quietly. A warning sitting in his tone that she ignored entirely. Because fuck him right now.

‘No come on,’ she said, storming forward and pulling on his stupid arm, to make him face her. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and she would be damned if he didn’t see the damage he was doing to her with his fucking pride. ‘What aren’t I huh? Aren’t I your best friend? One of your oldest, closest friends? The person who’s gone on nearly all your family vacations with you? The woman who you’ve spent every single Christmas and New Years with since we were eighteen years old?! The woman who spends nearly all of her fucking free time with you? What the fuck aren’t I Naruto?!’

He turned and the pain and anger in his face nearly floored her.

‘You’re not my fucking wife! Okay?! Is that what you wanted to hear Sakura?’ He bellowed at her. ‘Despite everyone insisting otherwise, you are not my wife and you need to stop fucking acting like it!’

There was a pause, so long and so vast the sound of her heart shattering could be lost in its depths.

Until a quiet little voice came back.

Yes you fucking are.

Yes you fucking _are_.

Yes you _fucking are_.

Yes _you fucking are_.

 _Yes you fucking are_.

‘Yes I fucking _AM_!’ she screamed back at him, her hands balled into fists and punched down to her sides as she glared at him through burning tears. ‘I’ve been your fucking wife for years and the only reason I don’t have a ring is because you never fucking _asked_ , you fucking idiot!’

Naruto reared back from her, all the anger vanishing from him as she seethed at him.

At first just the lack of anger and pain in his eyes was enough, that she’d finally said what she should have said years ago was enough.

The thing that all their friends and family had insisted was true had finally come from her and the relief of having said it, _finally,_ flooded her system in such a sudden burst of endorphins she thought she might faint.

Then he was still staring at her, his mouth moving wordlessly and it hit her what she’d actually said to him.

The spike of endorphins left. Plummeting to her toes and below and Sakura looked in the confusion and hope in Naruto’s eyes …

And she ran.

* * *

Naruto was still reeling from what Sakura had screamed at him, so he’d hadn’t had time to stop her before she’d bolted.

In fact the sheer weight of what she’d said was so staggering that he’d barely had time to register she was moving at all before she’d already darted back through the open doors into the corridor and taken off running in the direction of their room.

‘Sakura wait!’ He called after her, the cigarettes he’d been holding dropped to the stone of the balcony as he chased after her. ‘Hold on!’

But she ignored him, running full kilter down the carpeted floor. He’d chased more than his fair share of people down alleyways to know he wasn’t catching Sakura if she kept going at that speed.

It wasn’t even that long a corridor and with his longer legs and workout routine, he should have caught up to her in no time. But she was like a woman possessed and she turned corners with no concern for anyone.

He lost sight of her but for a flicker of her deep green dress and long pink hair round the corner from the elevators and towards their room.

‘Sakura!’ he shouted again but he could still hear her shoes pounding into the carpet. He heard the sound of her cursing as she rattled her key into the lock and he managed to get to the door himself just in time to shove his foot between the door and the frame.

Also in time for Sakura to hurriedly try and shut the door and catch his foot right in his instep.

Thank God he always bought sturdy shoes regardless of what he needed them for.

‘Sakura,’ he wheezed, clutching to the frame of the door and breathing deeply.

Sakura’s hands were clutched to her chest too and he watched not knowing what to do or think as she stared at him like a deer caught in headlights.

Moonlight was coming in through the window on the far wall, bathing the room in pale light that made Sakura’s hair and skin shine. It made her look ethereally beautiful.

She’d always been beautiful though. The moonlight was just enhancing it in ways the sun could never dream to.

Sakura backed up slightly as he walked into the room proper, closing the door softly and when he turned back she was retreating further from him, his jacket swamping her shoulders and her head dipped low as she watched him.

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered and the fear in her voice broke his heart,

God he was so fucking stupid.

He walked closer, Sakura backing away for each step he took forward until she was against the far wall and more ethereal moonlight lit her up. Her skin glistening where she’d started to sweat and he drank it in.

_You never fucking asked!_

‘I’m sorry,’ she said again. She started to shake her head and the tears glistened too as they fell from her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’msorryi’msorryi’msorry!’

Her face fell into her hands and her shoulders drooped as he stepped closer again.

‘It’s okay,’ he said softly. ‘Sakura, it’s okay.’

Because it would be now, he didn’t know how he knew that but he did. Everything would be okay now.

They’d all been right.

And he’d been scared of being hurt. Again. Too scared to act.

Then _she’d_ been right and he’d been blind. From fear of losing the best part of his life, again.

‘No, I shouldn’t have told you like that, and I shouldn’t have just thrown myself at you like I did at the park either. And all the ways I was literally making it so you couldn’t not stare at my ass or my boobs, God I should have just talked to you!’ Sakura sobbed into her hands, clutching at her face with her fingers as she started to crumple in on herself.

He wanted to be angry. A bit. But he wasn’t sure why and honestly … it seemed to him like he had to apologise, not Sakura.

‘I yelled at you Sakura,’ he said gently, getting closer and closer, stepping softly and stopping if she jerked away at all, lifting his hands in a placating manner until she settled and he could step forward again. ‘You’ve got nothing to apologise for. I’m sorry for what I said, I was wrong.’

‘No, you’re right, I’m – I’m not your wife and I …’ Sakura looked up from her hands, tears streaking down her face and through her makeup, and looked at him desperately. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.’

He … didn’t know what to say to that.

He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what she wanted from him.

But he did know what _he_ wanted.

Naruto just had to hope it was still what Sakura wanted.

God, _please_ let it be what she wanted.

‘Sakura,’ he murmured, so close to her now she had to lift her chin to look him in the eyes. He cupped her cheek gently and smiled, rubbing away a falling tear with his thumb. ‘Did you mean what you said?’

Because, that’s all that it came down to in the end wasn’t it really? Did she mean what she’d said? And if she meant what she said … then every fear, doubt or absolute denial wouldn’t mean shit anymore in front of that glorious truth.

His heartbeat was thrumming in his ears, Sakura’s beautiful green eyes widened and as her tears started to stop, she chewed her lip and it was all he could do to stop himself from kissing her.

The way the moonlight made the shadows dance over her face and her eyes shine enchantingly making it even harder to resist. He stroked her cheek lovingly and repeated himself.

This time certain to make sure she heard every single thing he said.

‘Sakura-chan,’ he whispered, reverently, hopefully. He felt her body shiver against his palm and watched as she chewed her bottom lip to stop from smiling. ‘Did you mean what you said?’

‘I – I – I don’t know what you mean …’ she said haltingly, her hand coming up to rest over the one cupping her cheek. Her touch over his knuckles tentative, uncertain but eager. ‘I said a lot …’

He chuckled and she joined him and God, it was like music.

He steadied himself, shoving down the scared part of him. The part of him that worried this was all some kind of trick. That this moment, the moment he’d been dreaming about since he was fourteen years old … would fade into nothingness like every other dream and he’d wake up in his bed at home alone.

But another part of him, the part that noticed Sakura’s hidden smile and the way she was leaning into his palm, how her whole body was closer to him and getting closer by the passing second as she all but crumpled into his arms.

‘Sakura,’ he murmured, moving closer until their noses were brushing, placing his forehead against hers and breathing in the caressing scent of her cherry flavoured perfume and sighed in time with her. ‘Did you mean it?’

Her eyes, that had fluttered closed as their foreheads had touched, flitted open. He felt her eyelashes against his skin, heard the sharp intake of her breath as she realised what he was saying.

What he was really asking.

And then he felt her smile, and it was radiant.

‘Yes,’ she breathed into the air between them. ‘Yes Naruto, I meant it. I’m sorry it came out like that but yes, I meant it.’

‘Thank God,’ he whisper-chuckled and before another word could be spoken … Naruto did what he did best.

He acted.

Naruto dipped his head from hers, Sakura dipping the other way, into his supporting palm and just before their lips met for the first time … he felt her whimper in relief.

He swallowed the whimper, cradling her cheek as he gently pressed her into the wall with his body, her hands wrapping around his neck as effortlessly as if they were made to be around him, his own hand moving from her cheek to the back of her neck and buried into her long pink hair, cupping the back of her head and cushioning it against the wall.

She moaned gently as the kiss deepened, his other hand helping her shrug out of his suit jacket and he eased up the press against the wall to allow it to drop to their feet.

‘Naruto,’ she breathed as their lips parted only to come back together, harder by a fraction but still gentle. It was testing, searching and oh so wonderfully hopeful.

And it was everything he’d ever thought kissing her for the first time would be like. Trust her to never disappoint.

She pulled his head down and the kiss got a little hungrier, her tongue flitted out into his mouth in search of his own and found it waiting and willing.

‘Sakura,’ he said, relief flowing from both of them as their hands clung to each other, their bodies melding as he continued to press Sakura’s smaller frame into the wall.

The height difference was beginning to cause his neck to ache though. He’d have to stop kissing her soon or it could get stiff and hurt.

 _Or_.

Naruto bent his knees, not breaking the kiss which was getting hungrier and bolder with each passing panting breath and eager lick of tongues, and giving Sakura just enough time to gasp approvingly, he scooped her up with both his palms on her thighs and lifted her into the wall so their mouths were level.

The kiss broke as Sakura breathed in more air and giggled against his lips. ‘Naruto!’ she smiled and whispered breathlessly. ‘Should I take this as you asking?’

He kissed her fiercely, punctuating his own laugh by rubbing along the backs of her thighs through her dress and revelling at the way Sakura’s eyes fluttered closed for a second at his touch. _His_ touch.

She looped her arms around his neck, her fingers delving into his hair and stroking his neck idly as they savoured the moment of their bodies pressed together against the wall, Naruto painfully aware of how hard he was getting and trying to ignore it, as not to ruin the most romantic moment of his life.

But then Sakura hiked up her dress to free her legs and wrapped them around his waist and pulled him harder against her centre and she swallowed a low moan as he rubbed against her through his pants.

He kissed her determinedly and chuckled. ‘Should I take _that_ as you saying yes?’ He let his hands snake up her thighs to cup her ass and he held the beautiful woman against the wall with so much joy and need running through him he thought he might explode.

‘Mhmm,’ Sakura hummed eagerly as their lips and tongues met again and she moaned into his mouth as their bodies rubbed together anew. Sparks of need tingling from below his navel up his spine and settling in his brain. ‘This is me saying yes.’

He ached, and he ground that aching against her and Sakura panted and groaned her approval into each press of their lips, every tug of his hair and the very squeeze of her thighs around his waist.

The kiss broke, his head rearing back as he continued to grind against the woman of his dreams. He had to see it, he _needed_ to see this moment was real. God it needed to be real, just as real as he needed the near-kiss from this afternoon to be real.

Please let it all be real.

Sakura’s thighs and hands tightened on him as she tried to pull him back for more fervent kissing but as their hips bucked together messily, her lips fell clumsily onto his neck and she panted happily as she kissed whatever skin she could find.

Fire, cliché as it was, spread from every point that her lips graced and as they locked around his pulse, he gave her an ass an almighty squeeze and the pinkette wrapped around him groaned so desperately into his ear his knees almost buckled.

‘Bed,’ Sakura hissed, kissing more fire over his neck, her tone almost pleading as her fingers clung loosely to his collar, trying to pull the buttons loose even as their grinding jostled her and made her lips bite together happily. ‘Bed, _please_.’

Never one to deny a lady, Naruto readjusted his grip on her ass and Sakura got the memo to tighten her grip on him, which was all kinds of hot and sexy and made him throb where their covered crotches met. To moaning approval that only made him throb more.

He’d aimed to carry her over to the large mattress but it was more like he took three steps and Sakura’s continued moaning and kissing into his neck, along with him fumbling with kicking off his shoes, distracted him and they fell onto the bed in a splay of limbs and gaspy giggles.

They came to a stop on the mattress, his body all but smushing her into the cloud-soft mattress and their eyes met, lust and need as potent in her eyes as the joy and … he prayed he was right … love and Naruto kissed her more gently, repositioning himself between her spread legs and cradling her entire back and head with his arms and hands.

Sakura moved against him, her hands stroking down his cheek to his neck, to his back and she even got some fingers down to give his ass a playful squeeze that sort of shocked him back to reality with a surprised laugh.

They breathed raggedly as they traded giddy kisses and touches, their shoes being properly disposed of idly, until Naruto finally found his voice to ask the only thing giving him any pause now. The last little restraining bolt on giving himself to this wonderful moment.

‘Is this a dream?’ He murmured, lifting so he could look her dead in the eyes, the warmth in her expression making his cheeks pink in a way that her body pushed against his moments before never could.

‘If it is … it’s not one of mine Naruto,’ she whispered back, reaching up to stroke his cheek and then lifting her head to kiss his lips delicately. ‘You’re wearing too many clothes for a start.’

He laughed and she joined soon after, still stroking his cheek and sighing contently.

‘How do we check?’ he asked cheekily, nuzzling into her neck and running his hands up and down her sides, revelling in the jumps as he brushed where she was ticklish. ‘Hey!’

He pulled back and rubbed at his head, Sakura’s slender fingers coming away as she smiled brilliantly at him.

‘Did that hurt?’ she asked coyly, her hands already going down to the buttons of his shirt and teasing one open with a little smirk.

He matched her smirk and kissed hers away sweetly.

‘Yes,’ he growled into her neck as he trailed his lips down to the crook, laying his body down between her legs until they were pressed together again and her hands looped around his back and neck and pulled him even closer.

‘I’m sorry, let me make it up to you,’ she whispered and nibbled at his ear, using the pleasure as a distraction to roll him onto his back and was straddling him like the afternoon, only this time her dress floated over them and when she reached down to kiss him, nobody stopped them.

And without anyone to interrupt … Sakura didn’t stop at kissing.

He nearly swallowed his tongue when she started to roll her hips over him, the feel of her ass gliding over his thighs as intoxicating as the tip of his hardened length grazing against her covered sex.

She panted lightly from either pleasure or exertion and Naruto swallowed every one up with his tongue as she rolled over him. She took his hands, first entwining her fingers with his and squeezing purposefully before guiding them down to her hips, pushing them until his fingers were tickled by the end of her dress.

‘Up,’ she whispered into the kissing, a whimper of need joining the panting as she released his hands and her diligent fingers went to work on the buttons of his shirt. She had his chest exposed to the air in seconds and her palms were already marvelling over his muscles and abs in ways she’d clearly always longed to.

She ran a circle around his nipple with a finger and her lips started to descend from his mouth to his neck. His eyes starting to drift closed as her hand moved to rub over his chest and up to the other side of his neck. ‘Naruto, pull my dress up.’

‘Oh,’ Naruto said, snapping his eyes back open and laughing nervously. ‘Sorry got distracted.’

She smiled into his neck and slowed the rolling of her hips like she’d known that was what had been distracting him and she let out a musical laugh.

He drank in the image of Sakura leaning back up on him, lifting her arms above her head with a playful wink and gesturing up with her hands.

Rising to meet her, lips taking smiling lips in a pointed, possessive manner, and he started to pull up her dress, delighting in the clear excitement in Sakura’s breaths as her flattering dress rose higher and higher, revealing more pale and creamy skin to shine in the moonlight that they were still bathed in.

He let his eyes wander over her steadily more naked form, his mouth going dry as the pink lace of her panties was revealed and dropped ever so slightly around her hips.

It wasn’t until the dress reached her breasts that they hit a snag and part of him wanted to cry at the unfairness of it.

‘Sakura,’ he said, trying not to whine but he failed. ‘Did you forget the zip?’

Sakura blushed, their faces so close he could feel the heat of it and she bounced in slight defiance, pressing herself down on his cock with enough pressure he had to swallow a groan. And when she did it again trying to get the dress up over her head.

‘Stupid dress,’ she grumbled. ‘I could’ve sworn I could just …’

Naruto chuckled and leaned down to kiss somewhere along Sakura’s bare side, making the woman go still and make a small approving sound as he placed another delicate kiss closer to the swell of her trapped breasts.

‘I think your boobs are too big for that dress,’ Naruto said, letting one hand drop from where it was holding the dress and glancing over her skin to come to rest between them, a deliberate stroke of his finger over one of her breasts.

‘Don’t tease me Naruto,’ she said a little hotly but it turned into a slight gasp as he continued to stroke over her breast, letting his finger circle where he thought her nipple was. ‘ _Naruto_.’

He watched her chew her lip some more as her hips started to roll slowly, he eased his hand around her breast, a finger slipping under where it was trapped to a happy keen from Sakura.

‘Let me help you out there,’ he whispered, cupping her breast, squeezing and massaging it lovingly, savouring it with every pant and heavy breath of approval from Sakura. ‘Then you can see how I really tease.’

He felt the full body shiver go through her and he grinned again as she whimpered impatiently and jutted her arms up, trying to jostle the dress loose over her mesmerising bust.

With much easing, and more than a little grinding of Sakura’s hips and stroking of her breast, Naruto finally eased the pretty dress loose and was greeted with a slightly red faced Sakura Haruno straddling him in just her lacy pink bra and panties.

It was like a wet dream come to life and as her hair dropped back down over her shoulders and the moonlight made her whole body shine in incandescent beauty … Naruto throbbed against her and Sakura merely smiled prettily.

‘Naruto you’re staring,’ she whispered, her tone breathless and slightly shy.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said on reflex, but couldn’t stop staring. He drank her in, the panties pressed against the black of his pants in stark contrast except where a slowly spreading dark patch was forming around her womanhood, wrapping to her hips and begging him to take them off … preferably with his teeth.

Then the bra, covering her well enough to supply support to Sakura’s full breasts, but looking so delicate that if he wanted to, he could just tug it away and be left with her bare and at his mercy.

God, he wanted that, and her, so fucking badly he could barely stand it.

‘You’re still staring,’ Sakura whispered, the giddiness in her voice unmistakeable. ‘Do you like what I’m wearing Naruto?’

‘Yes,’ he said immediately and Sakura smiled even more, leaning in to kiss him slowly, letting him savour every caress of her soft lips on his. ‘You look amazing. Sakura …’

She let him get an eyeful of her cleavage, which was even more hypnotising now the only thing between him and her breasts was flimsy looking fabric, and she started to roll her hips again. The motion making her whole body roll and jiggle intoxicatingly and he couldn’t stop staring as her breasts struggled for freedom.

‘You can touch me Naruto,’ she murmured, tracking where his gaze was. ‘I want you to touch me.’

Naruto leant forward to capture her lips, his tongue dipping against hers gently, while his hand came up to cup her breast again, the need to remove her dress gone, he could savour what he was doing.

After years and years of fantasising, dreaming and longing for it, he wasn’t going to rush making love to Sakura. If he spent an hour alone touching her breasts, then that was what he’d damn well do.

Sakura sighed in approval as his fingers grazed along the curve of her breast and he continued to massage her, kissing him slowly, her fingers splaying over his chest. Her nails scratching lightly sending little sparks of arousal racing down Naruto’s gut while her hands marvelled under his open shirt and she pushed it off over his shoulders to reveal his chest.

She reared back from him, far enough that he had to let his hand drop, he realised what she wanted and he helped her push the rest of his shirt off. Then he leant back on his elbows and languished in the feeling of the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, ogling his chest without a hint of subtlety.

‘Mmm,’ Sakura said, seemingly unintentionally and her cheeks flushed. ‘Sorry Naruto … just … God you’re so fucking hot.’

He laughed lowly and trailed his fingers up her thighs, enjoying the warmth of her bare skin under his, until his fingers were resting at her hip. He ran a slow circle around her hip bone and swallowed a groan as Sakura’s eyes flickered closed for just a millisecond at his touch.

‘I think after all this time Sakura,’ he said with a soft smile. ‘We’re allowed to just stop and drink in things we’ve only ever dreamed about being real.’

Sakura smirked, drawing a circle over his chest with her fingers before pushing him down and lowering so her body was pressed into his, the swell of her full breasts against his chest as glorious as he’d always imagined.

‘Had lots of dreams of me in my underwear have you Naruto?’ she teased as she kissed softly up to his ear from his jaw. ‘I feel objectified.’

The complaint was lost in a soft moan as he squeezed her ass lovingly, caressing her lips with his as her fingers once again meshed into his hair and his cradled the back of her head, their bodies rolling together to spread fresh shocks of pleasure through their bodies.

‘If I told you about all the dreams I’ve had about you in your underwear and less Sakura,’ he teased, loving the shudder of approval running through her body as he continued to squeeze and rub her ass. ‘We’d be here all night.’

Sakura laughed and peppered his mouth and jaw with pecks. ‘Yeah … guilty, and I’d offer to tell you some of mine but, well … you’re distracting me.’

He chuckled and gave her ass another squeeze. ‘You don’t seem too broken up about being distracted Sakura,’ he said.

‘Mmm,’ she said, kissing him again, the repeated kissing pushing letting him push every fibre of the relief he felt at finally being able to just kiss her as much as he wanted into her and making her return it more and more eagerly each time her impossible soft lips met his.

Cus God, Sakura’s lips were like ambrosia. Kissing her was akin to a religious experience, he felt like just touching her body was him at prayer and he had no intention of stopping praying any time soon.

‘You’re very good at distracting me,’ she said her lips dragging down his jaw to his neck, her body pushing him further into the mattress as she ground against him, earning herself some very deep groans as her sex rubbed against his still covered length. ‘Like, you’ve been so good at it, I’d forgotten someone here is still half dressed.’

‘We should do something about that,’ Naruto growled, tucking his fingers below the part of Sakura’s panties that covered her ass and cupping the whole thing with his palm before squeezing her. The warmth of her bare ass in his hand making his soul sing. ‘Shouldn’t we?’

Sakura groaned into his neck and nodded eagerly. ‘Fuck yes we should.’

Fuck it was hot to hear her swear like that. He’d always kinda found it attractive to hear her swear in general but when it was with such need? Damn.

He didn’t have long to enjoy it though, Sakura refocusing his attention to her hands and thighs as she shifted down his lap and while one hand tickled down his stomach with its path to his belt, the other was rubbing along his covered erection, her face lost in arousal and wonder until she lifted to look at his face and she blushed.

Probably because she could feel the _need_ he was emanating from his very soul as she rubbed at his cock through his clothes.

‘Naruto,’ she said softly, her hand still rubbing him, and she shifted in her panties, the wet patch spreading out a little more until he could feel how wet she was against his leg.

‘Yeah Sakura?’ he whispered, chewing his lip while she stroked him delicately. ‘You okay?’

‘The way you’re looking at me,’ she said softly, the hand at his belt stilling over the buckle.

‘You don’t like it?’ he asked, lifting up to caress her chin, pulling her in closer for a delicate kiss.

‘I love it,’ she sighed back. ‘I’m sorry, I just wasn’t … expecting how hot it would be to be looked at like that by you …’

‘Like what?’ he murmured, tasting her lips again.

‘Like you want me like you’ve never wanted anything more in your life,’ Sakura whispered into the continued kissing. ‘Like … like you wanna throw me on the bed and fuck me until we break it.’

Had he mentioned how much he liked it when she swore?

‘I like when you swear like that,’ Naruto said.

She whined happily as his hands went to her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over the slightest hint of her hardened nipples and then she panted as he pulled her forward so she could feel how hard he was again, and rained soft, sucking kisses over the tops of her breasts, earning more happy panting.

‘Why?’ she asked distractedly, lost in his touch and kisses.

Which he used to loop his arm around her back to her bra strap, one hand still teasing her nipple through the sexy bra as he kissed the top of her other breast, running his tongue along the creamy skin and delighting in every approving grunt or sigh Sakura gave him.

‘Because,’ he said, his fingers releasing the clasp of her bra, before turning them and flipping Sakura onto her back with a huff of surprised air before he was on top of her, kissing and grinding against her again. ‘It makes me want to fuck you until we break the bed.’

‘ _Naruto_ ,’ she groaned, her hands coming up to rest on his chest, her head leaning back with his hungry kisses.

Her bra fell forward on her arms, the frilly fabric resting against his chest and when Naruto leant back from her, he took the flimsy thing with him, glancing down …

And … The world stopped.

Sakura’s breasts were perfect.

No, really. He couldn’t find words more accurate to describe them. They were perfect from the full swell that would rest enticingly in his palm to her rock hard pink nipples that he longed to suck and lick until Sakura lost her mind to it.

He reached down to reverently cup one, brushing the hardened nipple with his thumb, earning a groan of approval from the woman beneath him. Her lips finding his cheek as her perfect breasts jiggled wonderfully with the movement.

‘I know you’re a boob guy Naruto,’ she whispered excitedly, a hint of amusement seeping through her clear arousal. She kissed his cheek again. ‘And trust me, I fucking love how you literally froze now you’ve seen them, I’m very flattered honestly. But, if you don’t … _oh._ Oh _Naruto!_ ’

He pinched her nipple, twiddling it between his thumb and fingers and brought his lips down to worship her breasts with kisses and licks, Sakura eagerly tugging his head down as she pushed him face first into her chest.

‘ _Ohhh,’_ she moaned as he sucked on her nipple hungrily, her whole body wrapping around him as he flicked his tongue over it again and again, pinching and worrying her other nipple with the same intensity and speed, he groaned into her skin and pushed away all his thoughts.

Because if he didn’t focus on his hands, his mouth and Sakura’s skin, he’d stop to take in the gravity of what was happening and … he didn’t want to stop long enough to take that in. He’d much rather spend that valuable time touching _her_.

‘More,’ she moaned, her body pushing up into his below him with such desperation it made his whole groin ache in response. ‘Naruto, _more_.’

And when she was saying things like that … fuck, it wasn’t hard to push everything else out.

He sucked her nipple again, Sakura rewarding him with more moans, only to gift him even more as he brought his fingers to a stop over her other nipple and stroked purposeful circles around the stiff bud, flicking it at the completion of every circle.

He snaked his fingers over her nipple and down to the curve of her breast, tickling the swell delicately and noting away the huffs of breathy laughter Sakura was trying to hide by burying her face into his hair just how much she liked _that_.

Another suck and Sakura’s grip on his hair pulled him into her warmth harder and she moaned so low and long it curled his toes in pure sexual pride. The woman of his dreams was moaning like _that_ and he was only at her nipples.

‘ _Oh_ _Godddddddddd_ ,’ she moaned into his hair. Taking in large gulps of air which only forced her boobs further into his face and hands.

Fuck he’d never known how badly he’d needed to hear that until he had.

He kissed across her breast, smirking as her breathing hitched as he kissed over nibble marks he’d not noticed he’d left and as his lips suckled around her other nipple his left hand traced down Sakura’s stomach until it was dancing along her waistline.

‘Naruto,’ she breathed, her fingers resting against the back of his neck, scratching lightly as she planted kisses into his skull and she panted at each nibble and suck of her nipple and breast.

He pulled back to look her in the eyes as his fingers rested on her panties, tickling along her waist gently enough to make the pinkette smile around her next moan.

Though with his touch stilled on her, Sakura opened her eyes, lust seeping out of her gaze and when she looked down to his waiting hand, she bit her lip, smiled slowly and pulled him up to kiss his lips possessively.

The kiss was intense, even more than before, the extra charge of knowing what it felt like to touch her naked body firing him on all cylinders that he barely remembered to force out the question.

‘Sakura?’ he tapped her panties around her hip bone and tried to keep the whine of need out of his voice as their tongue ran over each other languidly. ‘Can …’

‘ _Please_ ,’ she groaned, her hand cupping his cheek and stroking as she kept him in place so she could keep kissing him. She pulled back so their foreheads were resting against each other and all he could see was her stunning green eyes.

‘ _Touch me_.’

So he did.

Sakura groaned into the kiss as his fingers glided down her panties, a single finger leading a path to the centre of the wet spot and then he began to stroke up and down, in slow deliberate motions that made the woman under his touch groan and writhe against him, making his already painfully hard dick throb and ache against his pants.

Bringing another finger to Sakura’s heat, he rubbed gently, relishing each desperate shudder he felt through her sublime body and every gaspy pant into his mouth, the kissing slowing down so she could focus on how good his fingers could make her feel.

‘Oh God,’ she moaned, her fingers balling against his chest, pressing herself into him and burying her face in his neck, the muffled moaning only spurring his fingers to go faster until Sakura’s moans grew erratic and she started to buck against his hand. ‘Feels so good Naruto.’

He watched entranced as Sakura’s whole body convulsed against him and her body fell against his, messily pressing kisses into his neck, panting and groaning the first syllable of his name before giving it up and making vowel sounds.

And still he rubbed, spreading her pussy lips teasingly before tracing up and down again, his hand moving faster and faster as Sakura’s breathing hitched and she moaned loudly into his skin and she tried in vain to reach out to stroke his cock.

‘Gonna,’ she moaned, her hips bucking more and more wildly as his fingers kept their steady, determined pace. ‘Oh God, Naruto, I’m gonna … _ohhhhhhhh_.’

 _Fuck_. She was gonna cum. He was gonna make Sakura cum. Fucking hell.

He sped his rubs up, searching desperately for her clit to make her feel even better, his fingers aggressively hunting for the bundle of nerves until Sakura let out a strangled cry and her arms, which had looped around his back and neck tightened and she pulled her whole body against his arm and chest.

Naruto rubbed the bundle over and over, switching from up and down rubs to circles as the most beautiful woman he’d ever known moaned for him, clinging to his body, squashing her breasts into his chest, her nipples grazing him where they rubbed and then her hips rocked haltingly and he watched with hooded eyes as Sakura’s mouth fell open in a silent scream and she shuddered through what couldn’t be anything other than her orgasm.

_First of many, many more._

His hand was damp when he pulled it away from her soaked panties and the enormity of what he’d just done hit him like a freight train.

‘Mmmm,’ Sakura mewled, nestling into his body and breathing heavily, her breasts rising and falling mesmerizingly, making his mouth water as he wondered how long Sakura would need to rest before he could start touching her again.

‘You made me cum,’ Sakura giggled breathlessly. Her voice was slightly far away and she seemed to not be entirely aware she was talking out loud. ‘Means I can’t be dreaming. I never get to cum in my dreams. Dream you is so much stingier.’

He blushed at that and kissed her delicately, loving the smile that formed against his lips as the pinkette wrapped her body around him some more.

Which was torturing his fully sensitive dick, the feel of her body rubbing against his sending shockwaves of pleasure so intense he had to close his eyes. Something he desperately didn’t want to do. He hadn’t longed to see Sakura in post-orgasmic bliss for half his life to miss it now goddammit.

But the pinkette wasn’t just letting him lie there as she came back to Earth, the fact that she was kinda lost to sensation doing wonders for his ego and horniness, she was already moving, her hands tickling lightly down his abs to rest at his belt buckle.

‘You’re still wearing pants,’ she said, her tone disapproving and making him ache. ‘No fair Naruto.’

She looked him in the eyes and he realised what was about to happen.

‘Can I?’

 _Fuck me sideways_ , he thought intensely as Sakura smiled enticingly at him.

He didn’t trust his mouth so he just nodded. She smiled serenely at him and while one hand undid his belt buckle and then his belt, the other was at the back of his neck again pulling him down to a slow, ecstatically pleased kiss that made his whole brain set on fire.

‘Naruto?’ she murmur-asked against his lips as her other hand was popping loose the button on his pants. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Sakura you are literally taking off my pants,’ he almost laughed, but her fingers were pulling down his zip and he couldn’t take enough brain function away from where her fingers were to laugh. ‘You could literally ask me anything right now and I’d tell you.’

She chuckled and kissed him gently. ‘Okay well … is it weird that this doesn’t feel weird? Like … I’ve wanted this so badly for so long … and now I’m actually able to touch you … to kiss you … that you can touch me like _that_.’

Sakura shuddered against him and it did wonderful things to her breasts, making them quiver and him ache as the vibration ran through his body.

‘Fuck, I love that you made me cum with just your fingers,’ she dipped her head to kiss his neck and when she found his pulse he moaned softly as she sucked on it.

Her hand pushed down his now loose pants until his rock hard dick was barely covered by his boxers, a wet spot spreading from where his tip was straining the fabric. She ran her fingers over his shaft and his brain nearly exploded.

‘Sakura,’ he murmured, bringing his hand round to play with her nipples idly, earning a slow smirk of pleasure against his neck. ‘You were asking a question?’

‘Sorry, got distracted by all of well, you,’ she said sheepishly, pulling back from his neck and her fingers pausing back above his boxer’s waistline. ‘Is it weird that this just feels … I don’t know …?’

‘Natural?’ Naruto offered because honestly, he’d expected to feel weirder about all of this too.

 _Good_ _weird_ he thought, letting his eyes rake over Sakura’s almost naked body and felt the needy groan bubble in his throat at her hand so close to his dick, all while Sakura was smiling shyly at him.

Definitely good weird.

But when he actually stopped to let the moment hit him he’d found that, well, it wasn’t weird. It was just where they’d always been going towards and honestly, if anything he felt kinda silly for not getting here years ago.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said with a slight blush. ‘Like maybe we should have been doing stuff like this for like … ever?’

Naruto chuckled softly and kissed Sakura’s ready mouth again, lovingly, possessively and he swallowed the gentle breath of approval. ‘Yeah. Guess we have some humble pie to eat later huh?’

Sakura ran her fingers over his shaft, tickling up from his base to his tip and shrugged smugly. ‘That sounds like something to worry about when we’re done, and we’re not done right?’

A moment’s uncertainly flickered in Sakura’s eyes but he kissed it away, playing with her nipple until she was smiling into the soft kiss and only stopped his fingers when she went to deepen the kiss.

‘Not even close,’ he whispered. Running a hand up through her hair and pressing his lips against her neck, breathing in the scent of her arousal mixed with her body lotion and fuck, it was the best thing he’d ever smelt in his entire fucking life. ‘Help me get these pants off please, Sakura.’

Sakura’s eyes lit ablaze and he watched the delight run through her and the hand that had been teasing his dick left it to start pushing down his pants, her other hand coming down as she glided into a better angle and within a few seconds, the two of them were lain on the bed in their underwear.

But Sakura didn’t stop at his pants, stroking along his shaft with her fingers, she positioned herself so she was straddling his thighs, the moonlight now backlighting her into the sexiest silhouette he could ever imagine as she gave him one last questioning look, her fingers tucked under the hem of his boxers.

Their eyes met and he nodded, a nervous and excited smile from the pinkette the only warning he got before she peeled back his boxers and his previously straining member popped out in full view of her.

He throbbed as he took in the vision that was an almost naked Sakura Haruno staring at his dick, her bottom lip between her teeth and her eyes burning with desire. She licked her lip absently and his whole body throbbed with approval.

Then Sakura went and said something that made the whole situation that little bit sexier.

‘You’re so big,’ she whispered, her tone drenched in shock and lust. ‘Oh my God.’

She reached out to rub her hand up from his base to his tip and Naruto nearly swallowed his tongue as her fingers tickled his tip, her other hand divesting him of his boxers, him clumsily lifting his legs so she could peel them off him and throw them away.

‘I knew you had to be big Naruto,’ she muttered, her lips getting closer and closer to his bobbing head and she mewled as she lay down on the bed. ‘When I felt you this morning but actually seeing you … God.’

Naruto would wonder if Sakura was aware she was clearly thinking out loud, and he’d tease her about it, but right now all the blond could think about was Sakura’s lips getting ever closer to his leaking tip and every teenaged fantasy he’d ever had coming true in real time.

He didn’t even have the wherewithal to acknowledge that Sakura had definitely felt his hard dick against her ass this morning, her hands were already pumping his shaft and cradling his balls, her head titled and in a moment that seemed to take forever in Naruto’s mind, the pinkette sighed and her full lips pressed into his tip.

‘Fuck,’ he hissed as the suckling kiss was followed with another, higher and covering more of him as Sakura’s steady pumping made his cock quiver in her hand and when her tongue came out to give him a testing lick over the slit of his head, Naruto groaned.

Words escaped him, his entire focus was locked on the image of Sakura’s mouth suckling around his tip and down his shaft, her eyes drifting closed as she placed gentle and long kisses all over him.

She flicked her head to the side, her long pink hair falling over her back and away from her face as she continued her ministrations. She sucked on his shaft with a low, throaty moan and her eyes flicked open to meet his and he saw the question in her mind as she paused, her lips still gracing his dick.

Her fingers tickled his base and Naruto groaned, his hand reaching out for her body instinctively and Sakura sighed against him and with a barely there smirk, she closed her eyes and gave his tip a long, wet kiss that made Naruto’s brain go pop.

She was too far out to grab at, he wanted to squeeze her ass or at least hold her leg as she continued, he didn’t know why but the need to be touching her was so prominent in his mind it was actively bothering him that she seemed to be deliberately out of range.

Then she leant up, her mouth hovering above the very top of his dick and she let out a happy little sigh, dipping her head to his base and she ran her whole tongue up the length of him, flicking at his weeping tip when she reached the top of him and kissed the precum greedily.

Her eyes sparkled with mischief and arousal and her lips covered more of his tip, her tongue swirling around his sensitive glans and sending his head reeling as pleasure rocketed down to his balls and back up to his brain as he felt his eyes almost roll into his head and he groaned out.

‘Sakura-chan, fuck, that feels so fucking good.’

She paused, her chest pressed into his thigh quivering as she stared at him, naked lust overflowing from her. She lifted her glorious mouth from his dick and in a husky whisper. ‘Say it again.’

‘Sakura?’ he asked, the sparks behind his eyes slowly clearing as he took in the way Sakura was watching him, the movements of her body almost feline as she dipped her head to his base again and licked a small circle where it met his balls, her palm rubbing over his aching tip and he groaned again.

‘Say my name again Naruto,’ her voice almost breathless with unrestrained arousal. ‘Say my name like you used to.’

Her tongue ran up him again, the same mind-ending pleasure consuming him until Sakura’s lips swallowed up his tip and she sucked on him hard.

‘Sakura-chan,’ he groaned longingly. ‘Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan.’

She moaned around his dick and with little more of a shift of her weight Sakura’s head began to bob down, her lips swallowing more and more of his dick with each bob of her head. Sucking harder and harder as he kept panting out her name, his hand coming to rest on her shoulders and playing with her silky soft hair only appearing to spur her on as she sped up faster and faster, her tongue swirling and covering him as she swallowed him up and moaned hungrily around his shaft.

Her lips damn near touched his base, a long sultry moan throbbing through his entire dick and the pressure built quickly telling him it wouldn’t be long.

He had to warn her, it wouldn’t … fuck he couldn’t think clear enough as to why he had to warn her, not with her blessed mouth and tongue on his dick, sucking him so hard it was like she wanted him to explode, the twist of her head as she went down making his hips buck and her moaning increased as his hand fell to the bed and he balled up the bedding beneath his grip.

He thrusted further into Sakura’s mouth and she only sucked more, harder and with more enthusiasm as he felt his dick quiver in the bliss that was her mouth and he only had enough time to gasp out her name before he felt his release fire up his shaft.

‘ _Sakura-chan!_ ’

But it was too late and as he emptied himself into her mouth, Sakura kept sucking, swallowing down everything of him she could and once the spasms of pleasure and relief ran through him she kept sucking, eager to take as much as he could give her and then whatever else she could get.

He flopped rather gracelessly to the mattress, panting heavily and only vaguely aware Sakura was disentangling herself from his crotch by the sigh of utter satisfaction and smugness that she let out as she gave him playful licks over his spent and tingling cock.

It wasn’t so much painful, her wonderful tongue licking over him, but it wasn’t as nice as it was before and Sakura seemed to get the memo and stopped. Her body resting against his, her breasts tantalising against his chest and filling his vision when he looked down at the woman almost lying on top of him.

‘Hi,’ she grinned sinfully and climbed up him to kiss his open mouth pointedly. He let her tongue slide over his and captured her ass with his right hand, squeezing it hard enough to make Sakura groan and shiver mid-kiss.

‘Hi,’ he gasped back amusedly. ‘Sorry I couldn’t warn you in time. I kinda couldn’t talk.’

Sakura shrugged and kissed along his jaw delicately. ‘It’s fine, spitters are quitters.’

He stared open mouthed at her smirking, blushing face and gave her ass another squeeze that got a pleased hum out of her. And more kisses. Her fingers tracing patterns over his chest as she continued to shower him with affection.

‘You’re so fucking hot Sakura-chan,’ he murmured, dipping his head to catch her lips in a long kiss that the pinkette immediately deepened and melted into. ‘And if you give me like … five minutes I’ll show you I’m not a quitter either.’

Sakura’s cheeks burnt against his a little and he felt the giddy bend of her lips against his. ‘Lucky me.’

They lay there, kissing and lightly touching, Naruto’s hand never far from her ass and her lips constantly on his skin and mouth. It was heaven and exactly what he needed to let his brain reset and help him run on more than pure lust.

Her hand had been dipping down again, probably to his hardening dick, when he caught her at the wrist and gently held her hand on his chest.

She looked at him curiously, all doubt that she was allowed to touch him however she wanted gone, much like any lingering nervousness he’d had about letting his hands rest on any part of her heavenly body. ‘Too soon Naruto?’

 _Insatiable woman,_ his brain purred eagerly.

‘It’s not that,’ he said softly, lifting his fingers to her chin, tipping her head back so their eyes met and he saw the warmth and tenderness swirling in her pretty green eyes. ‘I just wanna ask you something?’

Sakura snorted and kissed his chin. ‘Ask away, I’m literally hiding nothing from you anymore.’

He gave her body a very obvious and very appreciative once over and earned himself a playful nibble along his chin and gave her ass another slow squeeze. ‘Why did me calling you Sakura-chan, you know, do that to you?’

She stilled, her expression going shy and the radiant smile from before turning into a little grin as she kinda hid the majority of her face into his chest, so only her green eyes and flowing hair could be seen.

‘It’s what you used to call me …’ she said quietly, her palm spreading over his chest and tucking to his side as she hugged him loosely. ‘When we were kids.’

He nodded, rubbing her ass and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. ‘I know, I’m sorry I stopped, but … did it turn you on or something?’

‘It always turned me on,’ Sakura whispered, pressing her lips into his chest and looking away from his eyes. ‘I _loved_ you calling me Sakura-chan, it made me tingle and my stomach flip-flop and when you started filling out and your voice got lower it … well, it …’

‘It made you wet,’ he said softly, letting his fingers run over the curve of her ass to rub along the underside and along her inner thigh, his fingers not long enough to reach her sex but he didn’t need to, her panties were so soaked he knew she was dripping already.

‘Yeah,’ she gasped, his hand so low on her clearly sending shivers of something through her as she smiled into his skin and tried to lift her body closer to his fingers. ‘Still does.’

Well, that settled that.

He was calling her Sakura-chan again. Though now he might save it just for when he wanted to turn her on. Couldn’t be turning her on all the time, she’d get used to it and damn if he didn’t like the idea of being able to whisper that in her ear and leave her horny as fuck. He wondered if she’d been this horny since their breakfast at his place before she’d left?

It would explain a lot to be honest.

‘I think we have a lot to talk about Sakura-chan,’ he murmured into her cheek as he pecked a slow kiss against the heated flesh and he opened his eyes to find her intense gaze waiting for him and he smiled slowly. ‘A lot to talk about.’

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said with a small nod. ‘Okay, now or …?’

Naruto put a finger to her lips and shook his head. ‘Later, I’ve only got one question for you right now.’

Her eyes were wide and inviting and like every other inch of her, stunningly beautiful. ‘What?’

‘Did you pack condoms?’

‘Yes,’ she said, her voice dripping.

‘Where are they?’ he rolled her onto her back, moving himself between her spreading legs and ground his rigid length against her barely covered sex, relishing the feel of the soaked fabric against his tip and shaft as he rubbed against her pussy. Eking out eager little pants from the woman beneath him.

‘Case,’ she breathed. ‘Inner pocket.’

She arched against his chest while he dragged himself down her body, kissing her breasts and nipples absently as he passed them, his hands massaging down her sides and over her thighs to cup her ass and squeeze in one long continuous motion, not stopping until her soaked panties were against his lips.

She trembled as he gave her pussy a slow deliberate lick, letting his tongue twiddle against her clit to the chorus of gaspy pants from Sakura before nuzzling her lips.

‘Mmm, good,’ he purred, placing a kiss against the sodden mess and slid down the bed, letting his thumb rub down over her clit and spreading her lips to a cacophony of little moans. ‘Stay here and I’ll be right back.’

‘Uh huh,’ was all Sakura said as she arched up on the bed, the look on her face belonging in a porno.

Or his best dreams.

 _Fuck_.

He felt her eyes burn into his back as he found her case in front of the dresser and tried to resist the urge to just rip the damn thing open.

The case flipped open effortlessly and Naruto didn’t even stop to look down at the contents, he couldn’t care less what Sakura was gonna be wearing tomorrow, if he had his way she wouldn’t wear clothes ever again unless solely for the purpose of him ripping her out of them.

He fished out a pack of condoms, one of many he found with a chuckle, remembering to tease Sakura about that later and in the moonlight he could make out the brand of condoms he always got for himself.

Thin feel really was the best way to go if you asked him and he brought the whole little box over to the bed with him.

Teasing her about it left his mind entirely as he lifted and he was met with the sort of view that he’d longed for since he could ever remember thinking about sex.

Sakura Haruno, in her soaked panties, her legs spread welcomingly as she lay on a double bed, staring at him with want and lust in her eyes. Her fingers rubbing over her nipple idly as she stared at him.

Fuck. If younger him could see this.

‘Naruto,’ she beckoned.

He was back between her legs in moments, the box left by her foot as he dived towards her core lips first.

‘Mmmmmm,’ she mewled as his lips devoured hers through her panties, his tongue flitting out to spread them slightly and delving into her, pushing her panties in just a little before he kissed his way up to her clit hungrily. ‘ _Naruto, fuck_.’

Her fingers came to his hair, scratching lightly, encouragingly at his scalp as he rolled his tongue against her covered sex and moaned into her, pressing more searing kisses against her.

Running his tongue up her, Naruto scraped his fingers up over her ass, squeezing and grazing to the sound of her encouraging moans and without even looking up, the roll of her hips enough consent for him, he dragged her ruined panties down over her ass and groaned in the back of his throat as wet, dark pink curls revealed themselves to him as he stripped Sakura bare.

She was a goddess. Her whole fucking body was a gift from the gods and if she let him, he’d spend every waking moment he had left worshiping at her altar.

Her legs lifted and she giggled as her panties clung to her in a vain attempt to stay, but he flung them to the side once he’d got them to her toes and before Sakura could do much more than blush at him …

Naruto was on her.

‘Oh fuck, _Naruto!_ ’

He lapped at her, his tongue delving into her folds with abandon, licking circles into her so deep he didn’t stop until his nose was grazing her clit. Her legs went to wrap around his head but he held them down to the bed by wrapping his arms around her thighs so firmly all Sakura could do was buck her hips into his face enough that his tongue reached even deeper into her.

‘Nah-’ she groaned loudly when he moaned into her sex and her body collapsed down and she moaned wordlessly into the air as he devoured her.

She tasted as sweet as he’d always imagined, and he couldn’t stop tasting her, you couldn’t make him stop as he licked his way out of her to more pants of approval as he spread her legs wider and his lips found her throbbing clit, sucking on the bundle of nerves gently but Sakura moaned like he’d done it as hard as he could.

He circled her clit with his tongue in fast, hard licks and pulled her jutting hips closer and closer to his face, letting the roll of them guide his head and when he started to feel Sakura’s rolls get sporadic, the moaning pitching higher and higher, the bedding bunching up above him …

He pulled back with a slow kiss over her clit and a low chuckle at the anguished groan from Sakura, her body clearly on the brink of release.

‘Asshole,’ she hissed at him. The venom replaced with wanton need. ‘Get your glorious face back down there and finish me off.’

Mmm, he liked when she talked like that, it was as hot as when she swore. They’d explore that later. But right now …

He lifted up, kissing his way up Sakura’s thigh to keep her distracted until his free hand could reach for the mercifully still close box of condoms.

Sakura’s eyes opened, already burning with lust fuelled frustration but zeroed in on his free hand holding a little shining red square and she breathed deeply, her whole heaven blessed body quivering before him before she bit her lip and met his eyes.

A flicker of vulnerability in her gaze that faded as he smiled lovingly at her and placed a soft kiss against her lifted leg.

‘Are you ready Sakura-chan?’ he asked, his tone serious despite the giddy little shock he felt run through his body at the tremor the name caused in her. His throbbing manhood resting above her fluttering pussy aching to fill her, finally. ‘And are you sure?’

She rolled her body, a slow smile spreading over her face as his eyes demanded he pay attention to how every glorious muscle she had begged him to take her. But he needed to hear her say it.

He needed to.

‘Yes,’ Sakura said, her smile brighter than he thought he’d ever seen it and she reached up to stroke his arm until their fingers were entwining on their own. ‘I’ve been ready for years.’

‘Me too,’ he chuckled, squeezing her fingers.

He ripped open the condom wrapper and was pushing it over his tip and down without taking his eyes off Sakura’s smiling face.

‘Hurry,’ she said quietly, blissfully as she inched closer to him, her lips so close to his covered cock he could feel the heat coming off her. ‘Naruto, please.’

He fully unrolled the condom and wasted no time in rubbing his abused tip down Sakura’s slit.

‘ _Ohmygod,_ ’ she hissed desperately, her hips bucking absently as he stroked back up until his tip bumped her clit and she gasped. ‘In. Now.’

Naruto didn’t need telling twice.

He dragged his dick down her lips and with relief pouring off of him and into Sakura, he felt her welcome him inside of her, greedily pulling him deeper and deeper into her core and he had to grit his teeth and slam his eyes closed as his brain screamed its approval.

Sakura’s mouth was a silent scream when his eyes finally opened, her head pressing into the bed beneath them and her fingers scratching along his shoulders, which he hadn’t noticed them doing as he’d got so low their chests were almost touching.

Their eyes met, half-lidded and foggy but clarity words could never manage passed between them and for the first time in his life, Naruto started thrusting into Sakura.

Her body rolled with the thrust, a sultry, quiet moan trickling past her lips as she tried to roll her hips to meet each of his slow thrusts but she didn’t seem able to. Each little graceless bump colliding, still feeling amazing but not as good as they both instinctually knew it could.

He’d go slow to start, let them find the rhythm. They had the time to do that now. They had all the time in the world.

They moved together, pleasure rushing through his every nerve ending as Sakura’s rocking hips slowed to finally match his pace and once they’d found the flow of their lovemaking, Sakura moaned continuously, panting and gasping as he went deep and slowly inside her and then again when he pulled back.

She clung to him, her arms wrapped firmly around his neck and her thighs pinned his hips, keeping his whole body pressed into hers and they rolled together slowly, each peal of pleasure between them weathered like a wave beating against sand.

Words were spoken, Naruto wasn’t sure if it was him, her or both of them saying them but he didn’t care.

All he cared about was feeling Sakura’s body around his, the nirvana that was being base deep in her and her loving every inch of him in her, their bodies keeping the rhythm they’d made together and their lips messily glancing over each other through the moans and pants.

He felt her clench around him and he buried his face into her neck as his hips sped up instinctively, the fluttering of her lips around his burrowing cock telling him it wouldn’t be long until the orgasm he’d denied her would roar through her and take him to an early finish.

‘Gonna,’ she said, the first coherent word he’d heard for what felt like ever. And it made him pulse within her, resulting in another toe curling groan from his lover.

His lover. _His_. She was _his_.

The thought threatened to finish him as much as Sakura’s fluttering sex, but he couldn’t yet, not yet. He wanted to hold on as long as he could.

But with Sakura’s movements getting hurried, her whole body rubbing against him, her walls sliding over his shaft and tip and her breasts and nipples squashing into his rolling chest … he didn’t think he could hold on.

‘ _Gonna cum!_ ’ Sakura gasped into his ear, her face burying into the side of his face as he clung onto his release for dear life as Sakura unravelled beneath him and around him.

Traitorous pressure built quickly in his shaft, his orgasm racing to match Sakura’s, so Naruto did the only thing he could think to do to prolong the inevitable.

Pulling away from the kisses, Sakura whines of disapproval lost in her moans brought from her climax still shaking her bodily against him, Naruto planted his hands on either side of Sakura and as her legs loosened around his thrusting hips, he lifted so he was peering down at Sakura’s pleasure wracked face.

‘Naru-?’ she breathed around the tail of her orgasm but when Naruto started to pound into her harder and quicker than before his name morphed as she flew into another. ‘ _Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh_.’

The sound of their bodies slapping together filled the air and Naruto let his eyes close as he moaned openly, his head ducked as he poured everything he had into thrusting, his release swelling up to his tip and with two sporadic thrusts he could barely control … he came.

He collapsed onto Sakura, her own orgasm ripping through her as he wrapped around her and she moaned into his shoulder as she rode it out with him still in her. The rolls of her hips over his still throbbing head mind-breaking in their torturous pleasure.

They lay there, hugging loosely, their chests melding into one breath and fingers drawing idle patterns over any bit of skin they could reach as Naruto slowly felt the world return to him and he slipped out of Sakura to rest pressed against her quivering lips.

She ran her fingers through his hair and groaned happily when he shifted to kiss her sweetly.

Sakura returned the kiss, lips closed and her head lolling back against the forearm he’d looped behind her head at some point.

When her eyes opened she smiled dreamily at him and sighed. ‘Hi,’ she whispered.

‘Hi,’ he whispered back. Resting his forehead against hers. ‘You okay?’

She breathed through her nose, tickling his lips and nodded against him. ‘Never better. You?’

‘Yeah,’ he sighed, laughing gently and pressed a quick kiss to her smiling lips. ‘I lov-’

He froze.

He was about to say ‘I love you’.

After sex. God, how shitty would that be? Like a reward for letting him have sex with her? Gross. She deserved so much better than that. He’d do her the respect of telling her that tomorrow, when he wasn’t laying on top of her naked and spent body.

She stared into his eyes, all openness and love and she quirked her eyebrow at him. ‘There’s something behind your eyes Naruto Uzumaki,’ she said teasingly. ‘Tell me.’

‘It’s nothing Sakura-chan,’ he said, blushing and pressing what hoped was a distracting kiss into her neck.

She pushed his head back up and searched his expression, frowning slightly at him as he tried to keep the words out of his head, it felt like it was impossible, like his eyes were screaming it.

He didn’t want his ‘I love you’ to come out like this, he just didn’t. He wanted it to come out during a date, at a romantic restaurant or somewhere else ridiculously romantic. Sakura deserved that level of romance from him and he’d be damned if he didn’t give her it.

Something in her eyes clicked and she sighed fondly. ‘Oh, stupid man.’

‘What?’

She cupped his cheek and rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone.

‘I love you too Naruto,’ she whispered before capturing his lips in a delicate kiss. ‘I’ve always loved you, and I always will. I don’t care if you say it first when we’ve just finished making love or if it’s over toast in the morning. Because I love you Naruto Uzumaki, with every single piece of my soul.’

She stroked his chin tenderly and smiled serenely. ‘I love you.’

He chuckled, shaking his head and groaned into the air. Damn wonderful woman, why had he ever worried about that? And why hadn’t he seen it years ago.

Sakura watched him expectantly, the same smile lifting her beautiful mouth and fondness twinkling in her eyes.

Fuck it.

‘I love you Sakura-chan,’ he said confidently, purposefully as he cradled her face and held her close. ‘I love you so damn much.’

‘Mmm,’ Sakura sighed and led him to roll off of her and onto his back, repositioning herself into his side as she snuggled in and let out a happy huff of air. ‘Good, now I don’t know about you but I need a nap. And then after we can … continue?’

She looked up at him bashfully, a little flicker of a smirk teasing at her lips before she buried her face in his chest to hide.

‘Or talk, you know, cos we’ve got lots to talk about right?’ she laughed nervously and peeked up from his chest with the same bashful smile.

He chuckled and stroked a circle over her back, eliciting a happy sigh from Sakura. ‘I mean, you _did_ bring all those condoms. Be a shame not to use them.’

Sakura blushed into his chest and poked him in the side. ‘Hey, don’t tease me, just be glad you didn’t have to go hunting for one in just your boxers.’

He laughed again and they settled into a more comfortable position on the mattress. ‘Yes Sakura-chan, sorry Sakura-chan.’

Her arm wrapped around his chest and she rested her head on his chest. ‘Good boy, now let your girlfriend doze.’

His heart swelled at the word girlfriend and he kissed the top of her head.

‘Wife,’ he teased. ‘Isn’t that what you said you were?’

‘Shut it, smartass.’ Sakura jabbed him in the ribs where her hand was hooked under him. ‘Hold me.’

He did, and he’d never felt more at peace in his entire fucking life.

‘I love you Naruto,’ she breathed sleepily, her leg wrapping over the one nearest to her, sighing contently as she nestled in against him. ‘So much.’

He smiled and pressed a kiss against the top of her head, his arm wrapping her up to his side.

‘And I love you,’ he whispered. ‘Sakura-chan.’

And then he fell asleep, with his Sakura-chan in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Anyone got a cigarette? XD
> 
> And let's be real, you all knew that was coming eventually, you know who you're reading, you know what I do. You're just surprised it took me this long.
> 
> Oh and I'll be adding appropriate tags in a couple days, wanna give people time to be spoiler-free.
> 
> See you next time!


	10. 'I Do'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for keeping you waiting after the last chapter guys, but Christmas and New Year and then a fresh new lockdown in the UK for January ... well, I did my best.
> 
> But penultimate chapter guys ... get it.

In his life, Naruto had had many amazing mornings.

All his birthday and Christmas mornings as a kid were some great examples. When your parents were as awesome and loving as Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, any special day you had was gonna be amazing. And even many of the birthday and Christmases when he’d been an adult, hangovers and all, had been equally great.

He’d had good starts to his mornings when he’d been on trips with his friends, there was one particular camping trip where he’d woken up with the dawn and he and Lee, who had been about to take his morning run, watched the sunrise together in comfortable silence. He still remembered that morning fondly.

Then there’d been the more adult mornings where he’d woken up with a beautiful, naked or mostly naked woman in his arms. The best of those normally starting with him being woken up with some kind of sex.

But nothing, and he meant nothing, beat how the morning of Shikamaru and Temari’s wedding started. All the naked beautiful women and the perfect sunrises or Christmas and birthday mornings combined could hold a candle to it.

Because this morning started with Sakura in his arms and her entire, thoroughly loved, naked body pressed into his.

Best morning of his fucking life.

And yes, the morning could probably count as one of the beautiful, naked women mornings but … it wasn’t the same. Even the mornings he’d had where said naked woman were his former girlfriends, didn’t measure up to this morning. There was no comparison to be made that wouldn’t be found wanting.

Because this morning, included Sakura.

Which, in his eyes, always made everything better.

Meals with Sakura were tastier, jokes with her were funnier, hugs were warmer and kisses were sweeter. Life was just more worth living with Sakura Haruno in it.

And the sex, God above.

Sakura sighed contently as he placed a soft kiss against the back of her neck before nestling his face into her hair and breathing in her scent, her body moving against his and making his morning erection quiver as it was rubbed by her ass.

He resisted the urge to cup her breasts and start massaging them, because he was allowed to now thank merciful God, but there would be time for that later. A whole lot of that. They had years to catch up on after all.

But as Sakura shifted in his close grip, he wasn’t kidding about how much her body was pressed into his, he couldn’t bring himself to wake her. Even for more of what they’d spent hours doing last night.

Honestly, he should probably try and get some more sleep himself. They’d only actually finished making love a few hours ago. He didn’t dare to disentangle from Sakura to check the time but given the time of year and the new day sun coming in through the windows …

Because in the heat of last night they’d never taken enough time to pause and draw the curtains.

They’d had much more pressing things to do.

 _Like each other_ , he chuckled to himself.

But yeah, going by the sun, it was still really early morning and the pair of them could do with as much sleep as they could get. They were gonna need to be well-rested to get through the endless teasing that was coming their way once their friends put two and two together and realised they hadn’t seen either Naruto or Sakura since early evening.

While he suspected not everyone would figure out that both Naruto and Sakura had disappeared after the rehearsal meal and not come back, enough of them would and the gossip would get round to the rest of their friends and they were all going to be so smug.

Especially Ino.

Thank God they’d at least get a reprieve until the reception. Today was after all, Shika and Temari’s day, and the majority of people’s attention would be on the future Mr and Mrs Nara. Even Ino would be more focused on them until the reception.

Though, as he tried to think on how best to handle the possibility that Ino might go crazy and cheer about him and Sakura finally getting together … he couldn’t bring himself to worry about it while he was wrapped around Sakura.

Even though they hadn’t nailed down anything about _them_ last night, he felt more than secure in their relationship. They’d need to talk about it, and soon, but right now he was too focused on how soft Sakura’s skin was and wrapped up in remembering the sheer amount of times they’d made love last night.

And while there’d been a couple of times last night when they could have talked … They hadn’t been able to keep their hands off of each other long enough. Something he felt was perfectly forgivable given they’d been waiting for last night for a decade and then some. Something else that was forgivable if you asked him was that while they definitely needed to talk … he didn’t think he’d be able to focus on anything other than making Sakura feel good for like … a month.

Naruto had always enjoyed his partners being vocal but even the slightest intake from Sakura had set him ablaze with lust and desire. And when she’d moaned … _daaaaaamn_.

It had been all he could do to keep the lovemaking sweet and tender the entire time and not just take her when she moaned for him like that.

He’d wanted their first night to be romantic and loving. He didn’t want Sakura to think he was just overcome with lust for her and that was what was driving his feelings for her, there’d be plenty of time for that kind of sex later, this first weekend … he had every intention of making every moment they had sweeter than honey.

He’d nearly managed to prioritise his attention on talking by focusing on keeping himself gentle too, but then Sakura’s breasts were in his hands again and she had been making eager, needy noises when he’d started playing with her nipples …

Hey, if you were a boob guy and your brand new that night girlfriend who you’d wanted to be with since you were a teenager was letting you touch her sculpted perfection in the shape of breasts … would _you_ have the power to stop yourself?

Especially when she was naked in front of you and you discovered that she _loved_ having her nipples played with? That she loved _you_ playing with them specifically?

Yeah, he thought as much.

The only reason he wasn’t massaging her breasts right now was because he wouldn’t stop at that and he _would_ wake her up, and he wanted to savour this moment just a bit longer.

But then Sakura made a soft groan and wiggled against him and he couldn’t resist kissing her neck gently. It was intoxicating and he had to swallow a needy growl so he didn’t wake her up. But just like yesterday morning, her peach of an ass was shoved right against his hard member, and it was very hard not to thoroughly enjoy the pleasure of it.

Maybe he could convince her into morning sex with it being so early?

He ran his fingers over her tummy, earning a sleepy giggle as he hit a ticklish spot. He smiled instinctively, burying his face into her neck and breathing her in again, a content sigh flowing into her skin as he pressed his lips to the crook of her neck.

No, he’d let her sleep, their alarms would go off soon and he could run a quickie by her when they’d rested some more. And after they’d had the hopefully brief and happy conversation about how she was his girlfriend now and he was her boyfriend.

Because now he was thinking on it, while he was too much of a perv when it came to Sakura, he had more faith in Sakura’s ability to marshal her need for him and make sure they talked about what everything meant.

Meanwhile he was still arguing with himself over the merits of waking Sakura up with his tongue in her. So yeah, hopefully Sakura would have more self-control than him.

Though in his defence, right now he just wanted to lie there with his girlfriend, the girlfriend he’d always wanted, in his arms and doze.

After the stress and uncertainty of the last few days he honestly felt he deserved to savour the moment. He’d wanted exactly this for so long, no matter how much he might have said otherwise … he’d never felt lighter in his entire life than he did right now.

He placed a soft kiss just below her left shoulder, where her cherry blossom tattoo still was, the pretty pink and black lines as stunning as the woman they were emblazoned on.

His lips trailed the tattoo, happy little noises coming from his girlfriend, and he was never gonna get sick of calling Sakura that by the way, and he nuzzled into her back, before kissing back up to her neck and burying his face in the crook yet again.

Heaven, he was in heaven.

Naked in bed with the woman he loved, who loved him too.

Fuck, she _loved_ him. And not in the way that they’d always pretended it was. She didn’t just love him, she was _in love with him._

He could have fucking sung.

His arms wrapped a little tighter around her soft body and he left soft little kisses over her neck and shoulder. Her creamy skin getting heated the more affection he peppered it with.

‘Mmm,’ Sakura hummed in her sleep. Bringing Naruto’s lips to a stop just over her pulse as he froze. ‘That’s nice. More of that please.’

…

Guess he hadn’t been careful enough not to wake her up.

His bad.

She shifted some more and a groan eked past his lips as the pinkette’s ass rubbed against him and she looked over her shoulder to meet his apologetic gaze.

And she stole his breath away. Just flat took it away, snatching it from him like she was doing it with her dextrous fingers as opposed to her captivating eyes.

‘Hi,’ she said sleepily, softly, and arched to kiss him slowly on the lips.

She smiled and turned to face him, his arms loosening without him having to tell them to give her more space. She wasted no time in closing the distance between their lips again, collapsing against his chest and holding him in a long, poignant kiss.

It stayed closed mouthed, but was sweeter for it and Sakura let out a little sigh of approval as she broke the kiss and lay her head against his chest.

‘God I’ve waited years to be able to do that when I woke up in the morning,’ she giggled, her arms wrapped around him and she pulled herself against him even more. Her supple breasts pressing into him wonderfully and she placed soft little kisses over his chest and up to his neck.

‘Worth the wait?’ Naruto asked, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back in slow, soothing circles.

‘Mhmm,’ she sighed, her own fingers tracing patterns over his back muscles and everywhere her fingers went he felt tension and stiffness leave. It was blissful. ‘Definitely worth the wait, and so were you.’

‘Flatterer,’ he muttered, kissing her forehead softly when she looked up at him. ‘Sorry for waking you Sakura-chan.’

She shrugged and her eyes drifted downwards with a decidedly amused flicker. ‘I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it up to me.’

He chuckled and tried not to stare at Sakura’s breasts. Yes, he may be allowed but that didn’t mean he could stare at her chest over listening to what she was saying.

‘I don’t think you’re actually all that upset,’ he said back, letting his fingers stroke down her back to rest around her waist, the softness of her skin rivalling the bedding they were tucked under, but far more enjoyable to touch. Especially when he caught the shiver of pleasure go through Sakura’s expression. ‘Huh Sakura-chan?’

He cupped her ass and squeezed, earning more shivers of pleasure from the woman. She rolled her eyes at him when his palm didn’t leave, instead kept squeezing and rubbing the glorious peachy goodness.

‘You know, for a boob guy, you certainly love playing with my ass,’ she said, her fingers stroking along his jaw. ‘Have you been misleading me with all your ‘boob guy’ claims?’

‘To be fair,’ Naruto said, taking her lips in a gentle kiss. ‘Your breasts are kinda pressed into my chest, so I can’t really get at them right now, and secondly, have you seen your ass?’

Sakura snorted and blushed prettily, her fingers still tracing along his jaw and lips, he kissed her finger as the pad went over his mouth and she blushed some more.

‘Besides,’ Naruto continued, his hand coming to a stop over her ass and he smiled lovingly. ‘I think when it comes down to it, I’m not a boob guy or an ass guy, I’m a ‘Sakura Haruno’ guy.’

He’d always loved making Sakura blush, it used to give his hopelessly in love with her self the little lift it needed to see it, the fact that even after hours of the best sex of his life and them finally being a couple … he could still make the pretty pinkette blush darker than her hair was something that gave him life.

‘You’re so corny Naruto,’ Sakura said with a shy smile. ‘But you need to stop hitting on me, it’s not fair.’

He raised an eyebrow and frowned. ‘How’s it not fair?’

‘Cos,’ she said, pulling his head down gently, their lips meeting in tender kiss, her tongue slipping between his open lips to dance across his. She broke the kiss, her hand already tickling down his side and trying to move between where there hips were pressed together. ‘I can’t think straight enough to return fire with your hard dick rubbing against me. It’s distracting.’

He almost pulled away to let her get at where she clearly wanted to, so much for having to convince Sakura into a quickie, God he hoped her readiness for morning sex was something that’d stick around, he’d always loved starting his day like this.

But, Sakura had been a bit of a tease over the last couple days, to his benefit for sure, but well, now he knew what was going on … she’d admitted to literally planning on jumping him all weekend last night … well, he wanted to have a little fun himself.

‘Are you saying you don’t like when I distract you Sakura-chan?’ He swallowed the little groan he earned from her as he started to play with her ass again, squeezing and rubbing it enthusiastically. ‘Or is it just you who’s allowed to distract people with her body?’

‘Yes,’ Sakura said blatantly, her fingers still trying to force between their bodies and the way her body moved against him nearly made him cave.

God above, having her breasts rubbing against his bare skin was so much better than he’d ever imagined. The feel of her hard nipples grazing him only making the whole experience hotter. And him harder.

But not yet. Just a little more teasing. She definitely deserved it. Speaking of things she deserved …

Sakura’s fingers were making headway, having gotten used to his kneading of her ass and it was just as she made a little huff of victory, her fingers grazing the very tip of his dick, that he acted.

He brought his hand down on her glorious ass in a hearty spank that jutted Sakura’s whole body up against him, rubbing along his shaft as the woman let out a surprised gasp.

Naruto held his breath for a second … he wasn’t actually sure how Sakura felt about spanking and while he didn’t _think_ she’d have a problem with it, he couldn’t be sure.

She stared at him, expression unreadable and her fingers stopped in place between their hips. ‘You spanked me.’

… Well, he may as well go for it now he supposed.

‘You’ve been being a bad girl.’ His tone much too shaky to be sexy but he powered on anyway. ‘Bad girls get spanked.’

He finally stopped holding his breath as Sakura’s face split into a slow, sultry smirk. ‘Uh huh,’ she said, her fingers slipping out from between their bodies and coming up to cup his face gently.

She crawled up his body, sending shudders of approval through his entire being as she climbed up him, until her lips were at his neck, she turned his head to the side and in a long, slow lick, ran her tongue up his neck to flick off at his chin.

‘Oh Naruto,’ she said lowly, her eyes afire with desire and amusement. ‘You have _no_ idea how bad a girl I can be.’

Holy fucking shit she was so goddamn hot!

Naruto’s mouth fell open. ‘Uh, um, well, um, heh …’

Sakura giggled, her head falling onto his chest as her whole body shook against him tantalisingly. ‘Oh your face, oh Naruto I’m sorry but you’re so cute when you’re flustered.’

He blushed and poked her in the side gently, her head coming back up so he could see her barely contained giggles, she literally had to put her hand up to her mouth.

‘Hey, don’t laugh at me,’ he grumbled, squeezing her hip lightly as she settled into his side. ‘How was I meant to prepare for … that?’

‘Don’t,’ she said salaciously, propping herself up on his chest so she could grin at him. ‘It’s way too fun to watch you flounder when I come onto you.’

‘Mean,’ he mumbled, turning his face away from her, his hand resting at her lower back.

‘Hey,’ Sakura said sweetly, moving up to kiss his neck and nibble along his shoulder. ‘Hey, don’t be grumpy.’ She kissed his cheek, stroking over his shoulders and chest with reverent touches.

‘I’ll be your bad little girl all night long tonight if you want,’ she murmured against his cheek, using the grip she had on his shoulder to pull him over until he was on his side facing her.

‘Sakura-chan,’ he grumbled playfully, her hands dipping down to his waist as he let her pull him. ‘Don’t tease.’

‘How am I meant to earn more lovely spanking though?’ she whispered before capturing his lips in a long, slow kiss.

‘That was okay?’ he asked, his hands moving back over her hip to go to her breast, his fingers worrying her nipple until the pinkette moaned into the kiss. ‘Was worried you might not like it …’

Her fingers found his tip and tickled enough to make him hiss. ‘Loved it, but then again, if you’re a ‘Sakura Haruno’ guy, let’s just call me a ‘Naruto Uzumaki’ girl. Pretty sure I’d love anything you’d do to me.’

He laughed and lowered himself so he could kiss over her breast, Sakura’s groan of approval as his lips took over from his fingers only egging him on further. ‘Who’s corny now?’

‘Don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Sakura gasped into his hair, her fingers having had to give up on stroking him as his body dipped low enough so he could suck her nipple. ‘Mmm, Naruto.’

He flicked her nipple back and forth with his tongue and sucked again, his other hand trailing down her smooth skin to between her thighs, the pads of his fingers seeking out Sakura’s clit through her already soaked pubic hair.

‘How long until we have to start getting ready?’ he murmured into her breast, kissing along the curve and nibbling lovingly.

‘I don’t care,’ Sakura breathed, her arms wrapping around his head as he found her bundle of nerves and rubbed it in a circle til she moaned loudly. ‘Oh fuck, _Naruto_.’

‘Me neither,’ he murmured back, feeling Sakura laugh breathily into his head and relishing how everything he did to her living aphrodisiac of a body made her moans vibrate through his skull.

Her hips ground slowly against his hand as his palm cupped her clit and his finger tickled along her pussy lips, losing herself in his touch again.

Thank God Sakura didn’t care about other plans, he didn’t think he’d have been able to keep it quick anyway.

Especially not with how she moaned his name when his finger slipped into her while he was sucking her nipple.

* * *

Sakura smiled into the mattress as she came round slowly, the gentle press of Naruto’s lips over her back as he lay half on top of her, her new favourite way to wake up.

‘Sakura-chan,’ he murmured sexily, sending shivers down her spine all the way to her already curling toes as his hand glided down her side and his fingers stroked the curve of her breast before dancing down to her waist and over her ass. ‘Wake up, I wanna love you more.’

‘Mmmm,’ she moaned and stretched out beneath him, giggling as his fingers trailed back up her side and he made a very unsubtle attempt to cup her breast even though she was pleasantly squashed chest first into the mattress. Making it very difficult for him to get at them. Especially when she pressed herself further in just to be playfully mean.

Teasing him had proved very effective at getting more of his electric touches, and every time his bare skin was against hers, it was like she was being struck by lightning in the best way.

He huffed a disapproving breath into her back and let his palm rest against her side and she tried not to melt as he placed more kisses over her skin.

God, it was better than she could have ever imagined.

She wondered, as his fingers kept stroking at the side of her breast and his lips sought out her pulse, if she frustrated him enough by playing hard to get, if he’d just use his strength to flip her on her back and take what he wanted from her.

He’d been so desperately sweet and tender last night, every single time had been gentle and all about relief and making love and it had been perfect. Even when he’d woken her up a little while ago and they’d started touching each other it had been loving, as natural and right as she could have ever imagined them being.

But she hadn’t just imagined what making love with Naruto would be. No, as much as it lived up to her expectations and then shattered them, she hadn’t just wondered how loving his touches could be. She’d lost endless hours to imagining what it would be like to be _fucked_ by him too.

How rough could he be? Was there a way to push past the sweetheart he’d always been to her and how he’d acted last night and earlier this morning? To bring out the passion and need she’d seen flicker behind his eyes when she’d rode him the first time, or what she’d felt in the grip of his fingers around her hips and ass when he’d lost himself in the moment this morning.

The spank and dirty talk earlier was the final hint she’d needed to know he could be rough too and it cemented the thought in her head that _all_ her fantasies about him could be possible. Handcuffs, teasing, taking. Naruto had it all in his mind and she wanted it. All of it.

She wanted to have every side of him, like she was going to give him every side of her. She’d happily be the loving, supportive girlfriend who’d be his biggest cheerleader in public and then would break his bed while bouncing on his dick and then kept going til the mattress wore out once they got home. And by God, if she had to tease and push and play hard to get to get the side of him that would leave her lost in how good his dick felt in her … she would. And she would reap all the benefits of a Naruto who didn’t just want to, but _needed_ to fuck her.

Absently, she wondered how all the sex with Naruto had actually made her hornier than she’d been all weekend while still making her want to purr in pure satisfaction. Because she swore she wasn’t this bad before last night. But his fingers were trailing up and down her spine and his kisses were getting slower and more pointed and Sakura shivered some more and she stopped caring.

Entertaining thoughts and making him work for his second round of morning sex were getting equally harder as his fingers dragged over her ass and delved between her legs. Damn sexy boyfriend, with his talented sexy fingers that were seductively stroking her inner thigh.

‘Sakura-chan,’ he murmured into her ear as his hand drifted back to her side and she melted into his touch fully, lifting her stomach from the mattress so he could slip his hand beneath her. She felt his victorious smile into her skin and bit down her own smile as his hand rose up her chest.

_Oh Godddddd._

She’d get her rougher fun later, right now she just wanted him to touch her however the fuck he pleased. He was her boyfriend now, he was more than allowed to do whatever he wanted to her as long as he kept touching her. And besides, he wasn’t the only one in their relationship who could seduce the other just by touching, she’d make her _boyfriend_ so horny later that she wouldn’t even have to ask for her him to take her.

She hadn’t been kidding when she’d offered to be his naughty little girl later. Something told her, she was going to be shattering all kinds of opinions Naruto had on how innocent she was later. She couldn’t wait to show him just what he was in store for.

He wouldn’t be thinking sweetly enough to check his urges when she was done with him. The idea made her tingle all the way from her nipples to her clit … though that could just be because that was where his fingers were headed right now …

He was making her so wet that she wriggled reflexively against him, his hard dick gliding along her ass and lower back, the groans he let out into her ear only making her wetter and enhancing the pleasure from his dedicated fingers.

So yeah, for now she’d just lose herself in the equally heavenly soft lovemaking he’d gifted her with already. Wasn’t like it was gonna get old like … ever.

BUT! A little voice shouted somewhere back in the recesses of her orgasm riddled brain.

They needed to talk about what this all meant. She was pretty sure she knew but … God, he was rolling her over now, slowly and delicately, and his lips were glancing over her collarbones and travelling lower as his fingers danced back down her stomach, tickling at her waist enticingly.

 _Lower,_ her mind purred as his fingers trailed over her waist, his lips capturing hers and snaking down her neck, suckling her skin in hungry little nibbles that drove her wild. Her body grinding on its own against his touch, directing him where she wanted him to go.

 _God, lower Naruto,_ please _!_

He seemed to finally hear her mind begging and his fingers started to drift back down over her sex, filtering through the damp pink curls until he was millimetres from her throbbing heat.

 _Wait! We need to talk first!_ A shrill part of her mind screamed lamely. The pleasure vibrating through its voice robbing it of any authority. _We can’t just keep having amazing sex and not talk about what it all means!_

 _Shut up!_ A much stronger and lustier part of her growled back. _We can talk later, besides his lips have much better things to do to us than talk …_

Sakura couldn’t help but agree but as Naruto’s devoted kisses dripped lower until he was running his dextrous tongue over her collarbones, his fingers still teasing around her sex but not actually touching it … a shock of clarity hit her and … and she needed to know.

Because what if the reason the sex was never-ending was because he didn’t _want_ to talk about them? What they were now … what if he was just distracting her to keep her in his bed longer …

He sighed happily into her skin, his eyes radiant in their half-liddedness as he smiled up at her and murmured how beautiful she was over and over again. ‘Fuck I love you,’ he whispered reverently going back to his kissing and touching.

Fuck her insecurities then, goody, more touching and kissing and … oh God his fingers were at her lips … yuuuuuuuuuuuuuum.

But no, surety or not, she _needed_ to ask now, they couldn’t just keep having mind-blowing sex without asking the question, even if the answers were obvious. She needed to know, then they could go back to more yumminess.

‘Naruto,’ she said, though it came out as more of a moan as his lips reach the top of her breast, his first kiss stopping just north of her already hardened nipple. She daren’t acknowledge where his fingers were though … she’d lose all resolve.

‘Yeah Sakura-chan?’ he asked, stopping immediately, his eyes a heady mixture of lust and love that she could drink in until she was drunk on it. ‘You okay?’

‘Never better,’ she gasped and he grinned, going back to kissing, his lips taking her nipple and sucking lightly so that she had to grab at his hair with both hands to hold him still.

And because it felt so good she needed to cling to _something_. Not because he’d just run his Heaven sent fingers over her pussy lips and now all she wanted was them _in her._

The blond grinned foxily at her, his lips still around her nipple, before letting it pop out and smiling up at her from her chest. His fingers mercifully coming up to stroke just below her collarbone and leaving a pleasant tingling over her skin.

‘We, heh,’ she giggled at the silliness of what she was about to say with his lips literally millimetres from her breast. ‘Need to talk. You know … about stuff and what it means?’

His fingers stopped and she could have cried. She hadn’t told him to stop touching her damn it!

Damn her and her needing obvious answers to unimportant questions.

But she did need them. If any part of her brain could smash through the ecstasy of yet more sex with Naruto … well then she must really _need_ the answers to her questions.

Thankfully for her libido and heart, mostly her heart, honest, Naruto’s fingers only stopped for a moment before they went up to cup her cheek and the rest of him soon followed until his lips were taking hers in a soft kiss.

‘Yeah,’ he said kindly as he moved in the bed next to her, sitting up on what she supposed was his side of the bed. ‘Guess we kinda sped past what us finally sleeping together means for us last night huh?’

‘And earlier. And right now,’ she said, the little kernel of dread that had been building in her stomach dissipating as she scooched up in the bed so she was sat next to him, leaning her arm against his. ‘Not that I’m complaining but well … you know?’

He slipped his arm around her, like he’d known she needed him to hold her right now, like he knew that despite her almost certainty that the conversation about what they were now was going to be happy, brief and followed by them being an official couple, there was still a little bit of her that was scared it wasn’t.

Which she knew was stupid, they’d told each other they’d loved each other last night. That big dramatic blowout and the coming together … anyone else wouldn’t need clarification of where they stood.

But she did.

And Naruto knew that, because he was fucking perfect and she loved him so damn much. He pressed a slow, purposeful kiss against her forehead and she melted just a little more as her arms reached out to wrap around his bare chest, burying her face in his neck and breathing in his scent.

He smelled of sex and her and it made happy butterflies flutter in her stomach.

‘You need to know what this means,’ he said quietly, resting his forehead against the top of her head. ‘Right?’

She closed her eyes and savoured the feel of his lips pressed into her forehead and sighed deeply. ‘I know it’s silly –’

‘It’s not silly,’ he interrupted, his hand rubbing up and down her back reassuringly, little kisses peppering her forehead as he spoke. ‘You need to know, I get that. So let me tell you where I think we stand, then you tell me where you think we stand, and let’s see if we match up kay?’

That kernel of dread came back just a little but was gone by the time Naruto took one of her hands and lifted it to his lips, palm first and smiled brilliantly at her, bathing her in warmth and love so unguardedly it left her speechless.

All she could do was meet his gaze as he lifted her chin so she could look him in the eye. His warm fingers cradling her jaw like she was made of precious jewels.

‘I think, Sakura-chan, that I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything and that if you’ll have me … I’d love to be your boyfriend starting right now. I want you to be my girlfriend and I want to be that obnoxiously in love couple that makes all their friends roll their eyes but they don’t care cus fuck those guys, we’re in love.’

Her tummy fluttered again, the butterflies almost applauding with every word that came from his beautiful mouth. Her cheeks reddened and she failed to swallow her beaming smile. She lifted his fingers to her mouth and kissed them delicately and then placed his palm against her cheek, rubbing against it as she held it with both hands.

‘I want that too,’ she murmured, blinking away the tell-tale burning at her eyes as she placed quick kisses over his palm and knuckles. ‘I want that so much. I want to be your girlfriend, I want you to be my boyfriend and I want to spend every day I have loving you and making you feel as loved as you make me feel. And I’m sorry if I hurt you by needing to ask so bluntly, I just …’

‘Shhhh,’ Naruto soothed as he pulled her into a blissfully warm hug, every inch of his skin emanating the love he felt for her and she wanted it to envelope her and to lose herself in it as he held her and she let her stupid tears fall against his bare chest. ‘You didn’t hurt me, you needed to know. It’s one thing to think, it’s another to know, yeah?’

She sniffled and pulled back to look at his welcoming and understanding blue eyes, eyes that were so captivating she didn’t think she would ever stop being in love with them. ‘Yeah, so we’re a couple? We’re actually, finally, a couple?’

He chuckled and the vibrations through his chest rumbled through her pleasantly as she nestled into the hug he’d wrapped her in without her really noticing.

‘Yeah,’ he said, kissing her hair. He laughed again. ‘And we’re gonna get so much stick for it. I think we should keep it just between us until after the ceremony today.’ Naruto kissed her tenderly and smiled. ‘What do you think?’

Sakura chewed her lip and made a show of rocking her head side to side to make it look like she was really thinking about it. But she was just doing it to make Naruto laugh, because she liked making him laugh, it was one of her favourite sounds. Her boyfriend’s laugh.

_Her boyfriend!_

She could have squealed. She probably would if she kept thinking about it instead of answering Naruto’s question.

‘Probably for the best yeah, Pig’s gonna be insufferable and today is _meant_ to be about Shika and Temari. We can tell everyone when we’re ready.’ Sakura glanced over at her phone, her probably dead phone. She’d never put it on charge last night. She shuddered at all the messages she was probably going to be bombarded with when it got switched on.

‘Does this mean we have to not act like a couple until we’re back in the room tonight then?’ Naruto said, his voice dropping an octave or two and making her skin tingle when his lips found her neck again.

She whined happily and cradled his cheek as he kept kissing up to her ear. ‘I mean … they’ve been saying we act like a couple for like, ever, anyway, as long as you don’t walk about grabbing my ass all the time, we’ll probably keep them fooled.’

‘So what you’re saying is,’ Naruto murmured, guiding her back down onto the mattress back first. ‘I should get all the touching of your glorious body I need out of my system right now?’

God he was so sexy, how had he kept this kind of sexiness from her all these years? She wanted to have a word with the sexiness police, they’d been slacking on the job of documenting Naruto Uzumaki’s off the charts sexiness.

‘We have to meet the others to get ready for the ceremony,’ she muttered as he slid between her legs, his lips returning to the exact spot on her breast they’d been on before they stopped to talk. His fingers already back at her clit, making her eyes drift shut as he started to rub it in a circle. ‘Naruto,’ she moaned gently.

‘So I should stop?’ he whispered as he kissed her nipple, running his tongue over the bud teasingly before sucking on it lightly.

‘No,’ she breathed, her fingers meshing with his hair, pleasure leaking into the rest of her body from where he touched her. ‘Just don’t make us late.’

He chuckled against her breast, tickling the heated flesh with his breath, her open mouth turning upwards slightly.

He peered up at her with those delectable blues and winked. ‘Yes ma’am.’

Then he fell upon her again, his mouth trailing down her stomach as his fingers teased at her clit generously, her mind exploding as she clung at his slowly descending head. She almost came as he went from flicking the bundle of nerves to rubbing it in a slow circle, his lips kissing down her waist. The half-hearted worries about being late to the ceremony being chased away with every stroke and kiss until she was barely aware of anything other than Naruto’s fingers, lips and tongue.

And then his lips replaced his fingers and Sakura’s brain shorted out entirely as his tongue lapped at her. The final worry had fled and in its place was only one word, over and over again:

 _More_.

* * *

Sakura had never felt as light as she did right now in her entire life.

She was skipping down the corridor, the bag containing her bridesmaid dress slung over her arm bouncing as she made her way to Temari’s bridal suite, and if any of her friends caught her they’d know why she was so happy.

And her and Naruto’s agreement not to let the cat out of the bag until at least after Shikamaru and Temari had left the reception because they were ‘tired’, would go up in smoke and that was the last thing she wanted.

While she was in no way, shape or form, embarrassed about being Naruto’s girlfriend, frankly she wanted to scream it from the highest mountain and tell every single person on the planet about it. But she also wanted to keep it between them for just a little longer, she wanted to savour the first secret they shared as a couple, it was just theirs right now and that’s how she wanted it to be for as long as possible.

So she forced herself to walk normally, to not let her extreme happiness manifest in out of character giddiness. Smiling was fine, being in a good mood would be entirely okay. Skipping and whistling would be all the giveaway Ino would need to rumble her.

They were all going to speculate about where she and Naruto had gone last night, Shikamaru was the only one who probably knew exactly when she’d left, and he wouldn’t have told anyone. He was good like that, a secret you told Shikamaru stayed with Shikamaru.

So while he’d definitely know she and Naruto were a couple the second he clapped eyes on Naruto, he wouldn’t tell anyone. Not his soon to be wife or even Ino. Who had a knack at pestering things out of people like it was an Olympic sport and she was pushing for the gold medal.

But Shikamaru could keep a secret. Like the time he’d stumbled into Naruto’s apartment, when he was Naruto’s roommate, on Valentine’s Day, to find her and Naruto cuddled on the sofa watching a rom com and admittedly looking very couply.

Something they did every Valentine’s Day, even when they were seeing other people they’d pick a day around Valentine’s Day, and had by some miracle managed to keep it secret from everyone they knew. They’d even managed to keep their roommates in the dark for years.

So when he’d found them like that he’d thought they’d finally got together and didn’t even ask either of them about it for a week. And when he did ask and found out he was wrong, he still hadn’t told a living soul. Because they’d asked him not to, because it would ruin it, Ino would give her no end of shit for it and even Gaara might have had some things to say to Naruto.

But given how Ino had never teased her about it, or used it prove the point that her and Naruto were clearly a couple, which now she looked back on it … Ino _might_ have been onto something given all their little traditions and in-jokes and well anyway … it was safe to say Shikamaru had kept his word.

So no one else definitely knew yet and she wanted to keep it that way.

Speaking of Ino though, Sakura had actually been worried that she was going to be bombarded with messages when she’d finally turned her phone on. The blonde would probably want to check in on her, especially considering the long, desperate crying she’d done on her yesterday after her halted attempt at making her move on Naruto.

She was actually relieved that had happened now … for all the pain she’d gone through yesterday afternoon and early evening … she didn’t actually think she’d change her and Naruto’s first time for the world. There was something so very them about it exploding into a fight and confession followed by near endless lovemaking.

The fact that they had condoms left over for later amazed Sakura and a little bashful about how right Ino had been on guessing the sheer amount of contraceptives they’d need if they’d gotten together.

Not that running out would have stopped them … she _was_ on the pill after all. If they did run out tonight she was sure she could reassure Naruto enough to keep going …

She allowed herself a dirty little chuckle at how she could do that but she had to stomp down on any of that kind of thinking right now. Or she’d start skipping again.

So yeah, non-X-rated thoughts.

She’d been certain her phone would blow up with texts, missed calls and any other form of messages from Ino. The others too for sure, but she’d expected her phone to damn near explode when she turned it on because of the blonde woman.

But when she’d come out of the shower she’d insisted Naruto let her take _alone_ , because no matter what he said, there was no way them showering together would have been anywhere near as fast as it needed to be, her phone alerts had actually been fewer than expected.

She’d had a couple missed calls from the girls, a ‘you okay hun?’ text from all of them. Even Karui, who she wasn’t that close to, had text her asking if she was alright, but nothing to the extremes she’d been expecting. And _nothing_ from Ino.

Not a damn thing.

Maybe she was wrong and Shikamaru had cracked and told all of them that she’d gone after Naruto. The idea had sent her on a merry little spiral of worry that she was still distracted when Naruto had come out of his own, much quicker, shower.

Thankfully, she’d had the forethought to dress before picking up her phone, if she’d still been in a towel or even just her underwear when Naruto had come out … well round three of morning sex would probably have happened.

And then she’d have needed another shower and they’d have definitely been late.

She’d run the idea that Shikamaru had blabbed by him, after telling him that Shikamaru basically knew they were together now of course, and Naruto shrugged it off simply.

‘Shika wouldn’t tell them anything,’ Naruto had said, leaning over the bed to kiss her gently. His certainty that their secret was at least safe with Shikamaru putting her concerns about that to bed.

Him continuing to strip out of his towel and get changed in front of her made her forget entirely that anything other than his naked, wet body existed as she watched him hungrily.

Naruto had apparently been completely oblivious to being stared at like a piece of meat though, and had carried on talking as he dried off and dressed. ‘Besides, if he had said anything to any of the girls, my phone would be exploding too. I turned it on while you were showering and other than a couple texts asking if I was okay and one from my mom confirming what time they all needed to be at the reception, my phone was certainly unexploded.’

Which was true and it had been enough to keep her mind from deviating much further from the happy little buzz of being in their hotel room together as a new couple. It had been lovely and everything she’d thought it would be. Which was to say exactly the same as before only now they’d also kiss and have sex as well.

And she honestly was kind of relieved. There’d been a bit of worry that sex would change their perfect dynamic but all it was going to do was make it even _better_ apparently. Which was absolutely fucking spectacular if you asked Sakura.

Though now that she _could_ just act on the urge to mount him whenever she pleased … it was probably a good thing he’d pointed out the time shortly after putting on his clothes.

So, after a little bit of kissing … which she’d freely admit would have turned into more if he hadn’t stopped her from pulling him down onto the bed again … she’d gathered up all the things she was going to need for the wedding day bridesmaid breakfast she’d made her way to the door.

Only for Naruto to smack her on the ass and wink as she’d spun around on him.

Which of course meant she’d had to shove him up against the wall and kiss his smug face off until he was panting for breath when she pulled away. Because obviously she _had_ to do that you understand.

Then _she’d_ winked, blown him another kiss and been back out the door before he could stop her again.

Sakura had a sneaking suspicion she was going to find out just how rough her new boyfriend could be without anywhere near as much seducing as she’d thought if a bit of hard kissing was all it took to get _that_ look from him as she’d swayed out the door.

Yummy.

Which was why she’d been skipping.

And why she was almost skipping again as she approached the ornate door that was so obviously to the bridal suite it didn’t need the golden letters embossed on the frosted glass above said door.

Sakura smiled softly as she heard the laughter and talking on the other side of the door. Guess she was late to the party after all. Oh well, given she could still feel Naruto’s handprint on her ass … she’d live with being late.

She edged the door open and the volume doubled and she was greeted with a very pretty, very white and pink room with all of Temari’s bridesmaids gathered around a clump of tables and plush armchairs.

‘Oh, there you are Forehead,’ Ino said exasperatedly. Hinata, Karui and Tenten waving at her as they gestured at one of two empty armchairs. ‘What took you so long? We were about to send someone to come get you.’

Sakura blushed at what that person would have interrupted and tried not to let Ino’s bluntness trick her into explaining why she was actually late.

‘Sorry, Naruto was taking forever in the shower, have you ordered food yet?’ Sakura said artfully as she pushed the door shut and forced herself not to skip again as she thought of Naruto’s face when she’d left. ‘Where’s Temari?’

‘Through there,’ Hinata gestured at the door that must have led to the bedroom. ‘She’s just on the phone with her mother, they’re just having a bit of difficulty finding the Deer Cottage, and her father won’t ask for directions.’

‘Fucking Rasa. I’ve had to text Gaara while Temari speaks to her mom, she’s apparently really worried they won’t make it on time,’ Ino said darkly as she tucked away her own phone and shoved a trolley that had assorted breakfast stuffs on trays, from behind the armchairs. ‘You’d think his little girl getting married would beat back his need to control everything.’

The gathered women grumbled and Sakura started to load up a plate with food. They’d left her quite a bit and someone had made sure there were a couple hash browns too. Probably Ino, she too knew Sakura’s love for them.

‘But enough about stupid men,’ Tenten said, earning a couple chuckles from the gathered women. ‘You okay Saks? You seemed to disappear last night. Everything alright?’

Sakura’s stomach dropped as the other women all peered at her, curiosity mingled with worry on three of their beautiful faces. She suddenly felt very loved by her friends, but she suddenly wished they didn’t love her quite so much.

‘She’s fine,’ Ino said with a roll of her eyes, waving her hand dismissively at the other ladies. ‘I told you, Shikamaru told me he’d found her falling asleep in her chair after the meal and told her to go to bed. It’s why I didn’t bother her. That’s right Sakura, yeah?’

The pinkette stared at Ino’s expectant look and her stomach climbed back up to where it should be and she made a mental note to thank Shikamaru profusely for covering for her. He’d told Ino the only lie the blonde could possibly buy. That she’d been so tired from the day that she’d needed to go to bed early.

Because Ino knew how easily Sakura could fall asleep anywhere and he’d used that for their benefit. Goddamn, he really was a genius.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said slowly. And then more confidently she nodded and turned to the other sceptical looking women. ‘I was so worn out from all that ‘Adult Adventure Park’ stuff yesterday guys, I barely made it through the meal!’

Ino snorted and smirked at a suddenly quiet and blushing Tenten. Which was weird.

‘Not as tired as someone else after their own _adult adventure_ huh Ten?’ Ino needled the brunette who seemed suddenly very occupied by the remainder of her breakfast. ‘Where did you say you found Tenten and her husband Karui dear?’

The dark-skinned woman matched Ino’s smirk with a grin of her own and winked at Sakura. ‘I don’t think it matters where I found them … rather what I found them doing … tell us Tenten, what you gonna tell your coach when he suggests going there for another team building day and he finds out you’re banned?’

‘Shut up, we got caught up on the adrenaline and for the first time in weeks, we’re not on parent duty, we got carried away okay?’ Tenten growled defensively before jabbing a finger at each of the two grinning women. ‘You wait, when your kid is suddenly in your bedroom at three a.m. and you have to explain why Mommy and Daddy are naked wrestling. Then you can judge me for taking any chance.’

Karui seemed mollified, blushing slightly even as she caught sight of Hinata who was nodding sagely. But Ino wasn’t so easily dissuaded, and only smiled innocently at the still blushing brunette.

‘Well if you don’t think we’re in a place to judge you Tenten,’ Ino said smoothly, smirking and raising her eyebrows at the other woman expectantly. ‘What have you got to hide?’

‘Eat me blondie,’ Tenten fired back, glowering at the blonde. ‘I’m not Sakura pretending she isn’t in love with Naruto. I married my cop and he _will_ help me bury your body.’

Sakura frowned as both Karui and Hinata smiled at the dig about her and Naruto and while Hinata smiled at her apologetically when she caught her looking, the other woman just shrugged.

Which … after an heavy internal sigh, she supposed was fair. Tenten hadn’t been wrong, but it was more complicated than just pretending. And them being mostly right didn’t mean she couldn’t be grumpy about it. She had good reasons to be in denial and scared of ruining everything. They could all eat her.

‘Neji’s not a cop,’ Ino said, her smile still radiating innocence. ‘Or is that you referring to him as a someone you … copped off with?’

‘Fuck off,’ Tenten groused, her slight smile breaking the aggression behind the words. ‘He was a cop when I married him, not my fault he got pulled into a government agency after. Point stands.’

Ino snorted and shook her head before shooting Sakura a ‘can you believe this bitch?’ look. Sakura found herself grinning back and simply shrugged.

‘So are you gonna make _me_ tell Sakura what you got caught doing to Neji in a public place or?’ Ino said with a cheeky grin. She leant over the table to stage whisper at Sakura and despite the hypocrisy of it all … Sakura had to admit to preferring to be on this side of Ino’s teasing of her friend and her man.

She wasn’t perfect, don’t judge her.

‘So you see Forehead, while we were all off doing perfectly innocent things like water balloon fights,’ Ino paused with a little smirk at Sakura that the pinkette promptly ignored. Her cheeks didn’t though and that caused a couple of intrigued looks from the other women. ‘And climbing over obstacles and playing puzzles … Tenten had Neji around the side of a storage hut …’

‘We weren’t around a storage hut!’ Tenten snapped and blushed scarlet, smacking Ino on the arm and snarling at her. ‘God you make it sound like I was sneaking around the back of the bike racks at school with a boy or something.’

‘Fond memories,’ Ino said, with a laugh. ‘Don’t go besmirching how I spent some of the most productive moments of my high school life.’

‘Wait … really?’ Karui said, staring unabashedly at the nonplussed blonde.

Sakura sometimes forgot that Karui hadn’t gone to school with them, and wasn’t privy to all of the honestly quite scandalous things Ino had got up to in her life. There was a reason why Ino was especially qualified as a psychotherapist who worked with people with sexual issues as a focus.

The woman had had a truly astronomic amount of sex and had never been shy about telling people about it. Sakura could assure you of that, and after years of living with her, she had audial proof too. Inconsiderate and lucky bitch. She’d have to make sure her and Naruto paid her back.

But if Karui thought Ino fooling around at school with her latest boy toy was as outrageous as it got … they were going to have to tell Karui about the two weeks Ino had spent with two particular men and one other woman on a desert island on the other side of Suna when she was twenty-two.

Even Naruto’s grandpa’s books couldn’t touch Ino’s sexual exploits.

‘Oh sweet summer child,’ Ino chuckled, reaching over to pat Karui’s hand. ‘A conversation for later. Tenten is sharing right now.’

Tenten grumbled and looked at each woman mulishly. Her eyes paused on Hinata longest and she shifted in her seat. ‘Ino, come on, not in front of Hinata.’

At which the lavender-haired woman gave an almighty sigh and rolled her eyes in a way that was so jarring it was possibly too funny to really comprehend. Then Hinata outdid it and said: ‘Oh please Tenten, it’s just sex. And you’ve been _married_ to my cousin for literal years. I’m hardly going to be offended while sat here with my _third_ child stamping on my bladder. Do you suppose I just wished really hard for another baby?’

Tenten blushed crimson as Sakura, Karui and Ino burst into hysterics as Hinata play acted praying and staring at the ceiling beseechingly before rubbing her belly with a mock-happy shocked face .

‘Well when you put it like that …’ Tenten mumbled and brushed a stray hair out of her face. ‘God fine, we waited for you guys to be suitably distracted and went back to our car and … well you know …’

‘A classic,’ Ino teased, earning more grins and laughs from the girls. ‘Tell me did you play with his stick shift?’

Tenten snorted and pointed a finger at Ino as the other three women broke into fresh peals of laughter. ‘Oh you wanna play? I can play blondie.’

Ino waggled her fingers at the brunette in a ‘bring-it-on’ gesture and grinned. ‘Bring it.’

‘Karui might have caught me and Neji in our car but how about we tell Sakura what the hotel staff caught you doing with Sai last night?’ Tenten said with a naughty grin. Ino stopping her laughter to raise an eyebrow at the other woman.

 _This ought to be good,_ Sakura thought idly, increasingly grateful that it wasn’t just here who’d been busying herself with some of the best kind of fun a person could have last night. She’d been feeling a bit salacious about all the sex she and Naruto had had. At least they’d stayed in their room.

 _For now_.

‘Oh, that?’ Ino said with a dismissive wave. ‘Please Tenten, that’s tame.’

‘What’s tame?’ Temari asked, appearing from the bedroom looking thoroughly stressed and in need of a stiff drink. ‘Are we sharing raunchy stories without the bride on her wedding day? For shame.’

Temari smiled at Sakura when she noticed her and came behind her chair to give her a hug. ‘You okay Sakura? We missed you last night. Shikamaru said you were exhausted? Did Naruto look after you okay?’

Sakura froze as Temari’s arms looped around her shoulders in a warm hug from behind. She couldn’t possibly know … no, her question was perfectly innocent, she was just adding hidden meaning to it because well, well because ‘looking after her’ was certainly one way of putting what Naruto had been doing to her all night.

And twice this morning.

God, she needed to stop or they’d rumble her.

‘Naruto?’ Sakura squeaked out, clearing her throat and sipping on some water when Temari unfolded from her to take her own seat.

‘Yeah,’ Temari said lightly. ‘Shikamaru said he’d sent Naruto up to make sure you got to bed okay, said that was why you two weren’t around very long for the drinks after the meal. You look okay now though. Guess Naruto took real good care of you huh?’

Oh Shikamaru thought he was funny did he? Sakura didn’t miss the hidden smirk at the possible double entendre Temari had made but she did ignore them.

‘Yeah,’ Sakura said pointedly. Because fuck them, they weren’t going to fluster her with euphemisms. She’d had more sex in the last twenty-four hours than she had in four years. And it had been _good_. And tonight more was coming.

They couldn’t touch her today. Only Naruto could …

Anyway!

‘Feeling much better thanks, is everything okay with your parents?’ Sakura asked quickly. ‘Ino said your dad is being … himself?’

Temari hummed grumpily. ‘Yes, Dad is being very himself, but thankfully Gaara has offered to go guide them in, he’s the only person Dad will deign to listen to nowadays. They’re going to meet us at the temple for the ceremony.’

Sakura smiled, good, the last thing Temari needed was to be stressing about things on her wedding day. There was more than enough stuff to stress her out without adding Rasa’s bullshit.

‘Speaking of,’ Ino said with a quick glance at the time. ‘We should probably start getting you dolled up Temari, let’s make you even prettier than you already are.’

Temari allowed herself to be pulled up from her chair and laughed as each of the women started playfully pushing her towards the ornate dressing table. The sandy haired woman laughing the whole way until she was sat on the stool in front of the mirror.

‘Okay, okay, but what was tame? What’s the gossip?’

‘Oh,’ Ino said nonchalantly. ‘I fucked Sai in the sauna while you were all drinking in the bar.’

Sakura’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. ‘You what?!’

Ino just winked as the rest of the girls giggled and teased Ino lightly. ‘And I’ll tell you what Forehead, those benches are _real_ sturdy. I think I’d have broke Sai before I’d break those benches.’

Ino waggled her eyebrows at the blushing pinkette. Like the horny bitch knew that Sakura was already wondering what else about her sexy daydream from their first day here could be feasible amongst the steam.

And if Naruto would be up for it. He probably would.

She suddenly had an overbearing need to know every sexual thing Naruto had ever done, whether to prepare herself for his expectations of their sex life or to inform what they would be doing very soon.

‘That is tame though,’ Temari piped up around the glass of wine Hinata had fetched for her. ‘It’s not like the time me and Shikamaru went for a walk in the deer forest and found that really sturdy tree …’

Oohs went around the girls, even Hinata, as Temari continued her story and Sakura once again was thrown into fantasises about what sort of escapades she and Naruto could get up to in the future.

After the wedding though, she still had to get through the wedding and reception first. Then she could run all the ideas running through her head past Naruto later tonight. They could discuss how adventurous they wanted to be together.

When they were alone.

In bed.

* * *

Naruto smiled softly when he saw her coming towards him in the back room of the temple he’d waited for her in.

It made her feel all gooey and when his eyes roved down the rest of her body and admired the way that the very pretty, very tasteful dress flattered her curves she could have done a little happy dance.

The kind she’d wanted to do whenever he looked her up and down like that when he didn’t think she was looking. Before they were dating.

Which they were now doing. She had to keep pinching herself to convince herself it was true though honestly she’d rather he was pinching her. Well parts of her.

God, she needed to calm down. She blamed the girls and all their sex stories that had apparently become the main topic of conversation for the rest of their time preparing Temari.

And as ever, Hinata’s stories had shocked them all. She’d have never considered the demure woman _that_ kinky. Sure she knew there was a more adult side to her friend, you only had to watch her dancing when she was drunk to know that, but _damn_.

Even Karui, who’d been a bit more timid had a couple and Sakura kind of hoped the one Karui had told them about her time in a traditional hot spring while she’d been on holiday was with a previous boyfriend. She didn’t know if she’d be able to look at Chouji otherwise.

And after a solid hour or two of stories that had left Sakura wishing she had more to share … well she was determined to make some as soon as physically possible. She was sure Naruto wouldn’t complain.

For now she’d just settle for the look of utter shock on Karui’s face as Ino had regaled them with her escapades from university and going by the way Chouji was pulled away by his wife when they’d all arrived at the temple and the happy look on both Mr and Mrs Akimichi’s faces …

Sakura and Naruto weren’t the only people whose sex lives were about to get even more interesting.

But right now her focus was on Naruto and his lovely smile and how good he looked in the black suit she remembered helping him pick out. It looked just as good on him as everything else he ever wore did, but the suit … it made him look dashing and sexy in a very specific way.

She had to stop her perverted brain from focussing on that though, she was in a temple and about to be surrounded by lots of people. She had to behave at least until she got him alone later tonight.

‘Hi Sakura-chan,’ he whispered, pulling her into a hug and glancing around the little antechamber. As if making doubly sure they were entirely alone. ‘I know we’re meant to be not being obvious but I’ve not kissed you in like three hours … can I?’

He was so sweet, asking if he could kiss her like that, it made that gooey feeling come back and overpower the raunchier thoughts he’d inspired the second she’d seen him standing alone in this little back room.

She lifted herself up on her tiptoes and captures his lips in a soft, reassuring smooch. Lighter than she wanted, harder than he’d expected given by how he was tasting his lips after the kiss and blushing down at her.

‘I’ve missed kissing you too,’ she murmured as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed into him, greedily taking up all the delicious warmth as he enveloped her in his powerful arms. ‘You look so handsome Naruto.’

He blushed and captured her lips in a quick kiss, resting his forehead against hers, making her skin sing where he was touching her.

‘And you look even more beautiful than ever,’ he said, taking another quick peck of her lips. ‘Is it wrong I wish we were back in the hotel room right now instead?’

Sakura sighed into his warmth happily and smacked his ass playfully. ‘Yes, we’re in a temple Naruto, don’t be so perverted.’

He chuckled and hugged her a little tighter. ‘Sorry Sakura-chan. I’ll be good.’

‘Good, one of us has to be,’ she said quietly. She pulled his jacket sleeve down a little so his ear was by her mouth. ‘Because if I thought we’d get away with it … I’d have you right here.’

She licked his ear and tingled at the whole body shiver that went through Naruto, relishing the one that ran through her when his eyes met hers with such intensity she briefly wondered if he was weighing up the pros and cons of the idea then and there.

Well that was giving her all kinds of tingles in the all the best places.

She stroked a finger down his cheek and then down over his jaw and turned on the spot back out to the main hall of the temple, adoring the way she could feel Naruto’s eyes on her ass the entire time.

God he was making her feel so sexy … sexier than she’d felt in a very long time and gods above, she couldn’t get enough of that feeling. Because it was hers, like he was hers and every naughty little thought he had, every possible desire he could ever have … would be hers to grant and manifest.

Lucky her.

…

She really needed to calm down though, she laughed to herself. There was still the ceremony to get through and the meal and then the reception they had to at least be at as long as Temari and Shikamaru.

Couldn’t upstage the bride and groom by slinking off to fuck each other’s brains out before them. 

Wouldn’t be proper.

But as she folded into a conversation with some of Shikamaru’s extended family, she caught Naruto’s eye as he came out of the room and the intensity simmering there … she knew something about herself that she’d never realised before.

Impropriety was her middle name.

Something she capitalised on while walking down the aisle on Naruto’s arm as the ceremony started and she took the opportunity to squeeze Naruto’s bicep in front of God and everyone. Which she’d never have been brazen enough to dare do before.

She honestly didn’t know what had gotten into her over the last few days.

 _Heh, heh, heh_ her own mind giggled dirtily back at her.

Well okay, other than that, but it was like finally sleeping with Naruto had opened up this whole other side to her. An insatiably horny side. One that she was fully intent on exploring and enjoying with the sexy as hell blond man stood across from her on the groom’s side of the dais. The sexy blond man she now called _hers_.

Yes, she’d had boyfriends before and nice ones too, not just jerks like Sasuke, but she’d never really been adventurous in the bedroom. Hell, she’d never even had sex somewhere that wasn’t a bedroom or a shower. The kinkiest thing she’d ever done with a man was wear a blindfold during foreplay.

Which she was quite proud of honestly, she’d thought that was really hot and very sexy of her. But the things Naruto’s eyes alone made her want to explore … God she should feel bad about thinking about these things in the middle of a sacred place during one of the most romantic events of a couple’s life.

But all she could think about as Temari stepped out onto the aisle, looking absolutely stunning in the finest wedding dress the Mayor of Suna’s money could provide, which the beautiful woman only made look better by wearing it, and on the arm of her brother Kankuro, looking very much like their father without his make-up, was how the blonde woman needed to hurry the hell up.

And the worst thing was, she wasn’t sorry.

Not even a little bit.

But as she glanced over at Naruto, who seemed to know she was looking at him, he turned away from looking at the bride with a respectable amount of awe, and the tiniest of smirks twitched at his lips, Sakura knew one final thing.

She wasn’t alone in being a bad friend right now.

Their eyes met one last time as Kankuro kissed his sister on the cheek and took his seat as Temari turned to a beaming Shikamaru.

 _Soon_ , his eyes promised sultrily. _Very soon Sakura-chan._

It sent shivers from the top of her head to the tips of her toes and she could barely focus on the vows Shikamaru and Temari were sharing, which she was sure were very romantic and lovely.

Because all she could think about was how she hoped whoever had the suite next to them tonight had ear plugs.

They were going to need them.

She was such a bad friend.

Temari would forgive her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the last chapter guys, this is not a drill! 
> 
> Also, my but this chapter was horny as hell huh? I'd apologise but given how long I behaved until these past two chapters ... well, I'm not sorry. And neither are Naruto and Sakura.
> 
> See you for the last round guys.
> 
> TUI


End file.
